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PCRetail 

ISSUE 47 AUGUST 2007 

27 

41 

51 

PCRETAIL CONTACTS 

Editor 

Scott Bicheno 

scott.bicheno@intentmedia.co.uk 

Staff Writer 

Ben Furfie 

ben.furfie@intentmedia.co.uk 

Production Editor 

Samantha Loveday 

samantha.loveday@intentmedia.co.uk 

Managing Editor 

Lisa Foster 

lisa.foster@intentmedia.co.uk 

Advertising Manager 

Katie Rawlings 

katie.rawlings@intentmedia.co.uk 

REGULARS 

5 News 

14 PCA 

16 Appointments 

18 Indie Profile 

20 Agony Uncle: Problems Solved 

FEATURES 

23 The Big Interview: Ingram Micro 

27 Hot Topic: Margin Makers 

31 Sector Guide: Broadband 

37 Logic 3 interview 

41 The Education Channel 

45 Product Focus: Top-end Kit 

51 Reference Software 

55 Sector Guide: Networking 

61 In-car Technology 

65 Microsoft’s ABU 

67 Mid range AMD card overview 

70 Notes From The Frontline 

FACTS AND FIGURES 

73 Plug and Play 

75 Games Releases 

76 GFK Analysis 

79 Hardware Charts 

82 Software Charts 

MARKETPLACE 85-113 

WIN A MICROSOFT WINDOWS DESKTOP 

SOLUTION FROM INGRAM MICRO 58-59 

Advertising Executive 

Carly Bailey 

carly.bailey@intentmedia.co.uk 

Production Manager 

Suzanne Powles 

suzanne.powles@intentmedia.co.uk 

Designer 

James Martin 

james.martin@intentmedia.co.uk 

PUBLISHER: 01992 535646 

Stuart Dinsey 

stuart.dinsey@intentmedia.co.uk 

EDITORIAL: 01992 535646 

ADVERTISING: 01992 535647 

FAX: 01992 535648 

PC Retail - Total average monthly net circulation for 

January 1st to December 31st 2006: 11,796. 

Intent Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Associations 

PC Retail is published 12 times a year by Intent Media - Saxon House, 6a St.Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire 

SG14 1JA Fax: +44 (0)1992 535648. © Intent Media 2007 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any 

form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Printed by Pensord. 

SUBSCRIPTIONS UK: £50 Europe: £60 Rest of World: £90. The international cost applies per subscription and covers 

airmail dispatch of 12 issues. To order your subscription via Visa, MasterCard, Amex Switch or Delta contact 

pcr.subscriptions@c-cms.com or call 01580 883848. Alternatively visit our website www.pcretailmag.com 

Subscriptions Manager: Hannah Short, Hannah.Short@intentmedia.co.uk 

ISSN:1742-8440 

What’s the 

problem? 

A COMMON THREAD running through 

this month’s issue, and indeed many prior 

to this, is the concept of solutions. For as 

long as I can remember members of the 

technology industry have been 

proclaiming, to the point of cliché, that 

they are “solution providers, not box 

shifters,” the inference being that they do 

more than simply pile ‘em high and sell 

‘em cheap. 

Probably the biggest single driver of this tendency has been the 

Internet, which has allowed the likes of Amazon to pile ‘em higher 

and sell ‘em cheaper than ever before. This left everyone else 

having to either follow suit or justify not doing so. 

The Internet has 

made retail 

either follow suit 

or justify why it 

hasn’t done so 

Which brings us to the solutionsell. 

Most people haven’t taken the 

time to suss out how technology 

works. This is where retailers come 

to the rescue; offering their 

knowledge and judgement to ensure 

they make the right choice for them. 

So this month we see Commodore 

present its mobile content solution (p6), Sony unveil its new laptop 

retail concept, designed to help consumers relate their lifestyle to 

the kind of laptop they need (p7). 

Further on we have an exclusive interview with Bhavesh Patel, 

commercial director at Ingram Micro (p23). It seems that solution 

selling is a key feature of Ingram’s business, with the many uses of 

digital storage getting particular attention in the interview. 

One conclusion was that network attached storage is of growing 

importance as domestic wireless networks become more 

widespread. I take a look at home networking on p55 and find that 

any retailer that can do an effective ‘solution’ sell on a home 

network could be unearthing a goldmine. 

One of the things that has always intrigued me about the use of 

the word solution is that, grammatically at least, it presupposes that 

there is an existing problem the solution solves. I guess if there is a 

problem in this instance, it’s the oldest one of all: how do I make 

more money? 

Scott Bicheno 

Scott.Bicheno@intentmedia.co.uk 

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Big Mother 

IBASE’s new MI910 Mini-ITX 

motherboard includes the 

Mobile Intel GM965 Express 

Chipset consisting of Intel 

GM965 Graphic Memory 

Controller Hub and Intel I/O 

Controller Hub, an optimised 

integrated graphics solution 

with a 533MHz and 800MHz 

front-side bus. 

www.ibase.com.tw 

Entatech expands 

Entatech is now stocking 

Foxconn motherboards and 

graphic cards. “Increasing 

the Foxconn range through 

Enta shows a joint 

commitment to providing 

customers with a more 

flexible approach in buying 

Foxconn components,” said 

Foxconn MD Stephen Ling. 

www.entaonline.com 

Panda top in UK 

The UK operation of Panda 

Software is the fastest 

growing of all countries in 

which it has a presence. 

The UK was named top 

overall sales performer, 

achieving higher year-onyear 

(Jan 2006 – May 2007) 

sales revenues than the 

other 54 operations. 

pandasoftware.co.uk 

Ingram Googled 

Ingram Micro has signed a 

deal with Google to 

distribute its enterprise 

software boxes in the US. 

The devices are aimed at 

firms which have such a 

large amount of documents 

that normal desktop/server 

search application wouldn’t 

be able cope. 

ingrammicro-europe.com 

NEWS 

Three is clearly a magic 

number for Microsoft 

Vendor keeps all three broad-line distributors ● Trio of UK independent software vendors rewarded 

by Lisa Foster 

IT MAY HAVE announced at 

the start of the year that only 

two of its three broad-line 

distributors were going to be 

retained at the end of a six 

month assessment period, but 

Microsoft has now opted to 

retain all three. 

Speaking to PC Retail, 

Microsoft’s partner group 

manager Steve Haddock 

explained the thinking behind 

the decision: “Following the 

extension of our distributor 

channel last October, we have 

been through a rigorous sixmonth 

scorecarding process, to 

ensure each distributor is 

performing in line with the 

demands of the market. Because 

of the performance of each of 

our distributors during the sixmonth 

scorecarding process, we 

are pleased to announce that we 

will continue working with 

each of our current distributors. 

“The preservation of these 

relationships is in recognition of 

the unique value each one of 

our distributors brings to our 

distribution channel and, 

ultimately, the value which is 

driven to our resellers and their 

customers. 

He added: “We are 

extremely satisfied by the 

diversity of expertise which 

exists in our distribution 

channel as a result of the 

review process, as well as the 

fact that there is a clear 

differentation between each of 

our current distributors. This 

will enable our network of UK 

HADDOCK: “The preservation of these relationships is in 

recognition of the unique value each one brings to our channel” 

resellers to be more 

competitive and drive forward 

their own businesses which 

will in turn benefit our end 

customers.” 

Elsewhere, at its Worldwide 

Partner Conference, Microsoft 

awarded Partner of the Year 

status to three UK independent 

software vendors. Information 

Management Group, Bytes 

Technology Group and 

Aspective were announced 

earlier this month as ISV award 

winners. They picked up the 

accolades for Data 

Management Solutions, 

Business Intelligence Partner of 

the Year, Licensing Solutions, 

Software Asset Management 

Partner of the Year and 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 

Partner of the Year respectively. 

Gem releases Flash security titles 

GEM HAS rolled out the 

second wave of products from 

CA Internet Security. 

They come following the 

successful launch of the CA 

line-up by exclusive 

distributor Gem last month. 

The first of the two 

products is the CA Flash 

Drive. Including CA Internet 

Security Suite 2007 and home 

protection for three PCs, the 

product is delivered – as the 

name suggests – on a 2GB 

Flash Drive. 

Retail price is £49.95. 

The second is the CA 

Internet Security Suite with 

Desktop DNA Migrator Flash 

Drive. As well as providing 

security software for three 

PCs, this allows users to easily 

migrate their files, settings 

and preferences from PC to 

PC. Retail price is also 

£49.95. 

“We’ve been working 

closely with CA in their 

introduction into the UK 

market,” said Gem’s 

commercial director Simon 

Lee (pictured). “Following a 

successful launch which had a 

great impact on the channel, 

now we’ve got the release of 

the Flash Drive skus, which 

are memorable, provide a 

great hook for consumers and 

retailers and are excellent 

value,” he added. 

News Bytes SIGN UP FOR THE PC RETAIL NEWSFLASH SERVICE AT WWW.PCRETAILMAG.COM 

Go wireless 

Lexmark’s wireless printers 

are now being stocked at 

Currys, Currys.Digital and PC 

World. The range includes 

the Z1480 single function 

wireless colour printer, X4580 

wireless all-in-one printer, 

Z1380 single function inkjet 

printer, and X2580 and 

X3580 two-in-ones. 

www.lexmark.co.uk 

www.pcretailmag.com PCRetail August 5

NEWS 

UK push for 

Commodore 

Big hopes to revolutionise mobile media market with wi-fi 

enabled streaming portable device... 

by Scott Bicheno 

A NEW CONCEPT sporting an 

old brand has been launched 

into the UK market. 

Anyone who remembers the 

80’s will be familiar with the 

Commodore brand, but other 

than the logo this version has 

nothing in common with the 

computing company of old. 

Today’s Commodore 

describes itself as a wi-fi 

entertainment platform and 

aims to redefine the way people 

consume their media on the 

move. Its unique proposition is 

to do away with storage and 

have everyone stream their 

media live over wi-fi. 

“This is a completely new 

concept,” sales director Frank 

Akihary said. “By emphasising 

streaming and video-on-demand 

we’re changing the way content 

is accessed.” 

The launch product will be 

the Commodore Gravel In 

Pocket, a device with a 2.8inch 

TFT screen and full wi-fi 

connectivity. It is designed to 

access the CommodoreWorld 

media portal via wi-fi and 

stream video and audio from it. 

For the concept to work 

there has to be good wi-fi 

News Bytes 

Save energy 

Fujitsu Siemens Computers 

has revealed the most 

energy efficient server in 

the world – the PRIMERGY 

TX120 tower server. It 

apparently sets new 

standards in 

environmentally conscious 

design with the smallest 

carbon footprint of any 

server available today. 

www.fujitsu-siemens.com 

“By emphasising streaming and 

video-on-demand, we are 

changing the way content is 

accessed.” 

hotspot coverage, but just as 

important is a commercial 

model which spares the user 

the need to establish a new 

commercial arrangement every 

time they pass from one 

hotspot to another. Akihary 

believes the current hotspot 

paradigm is destined to change. 

Commodore has deals with 

Boingo – a hotspot aggregator 

CeBIT speaks 

In the words of Ernst Raue, 

the Deutsche Messe board 

member in charge of 

CeBIT, the 2008 show is 

gearing up to “underscore 

its outstanding role as the 

digital community’s No. 1 

marketplace”. The newlook 

CeBIT will aim to be 

more user-centric than 

ever from next year. 

www.cebit.de 

that provides flat-rate access to 

public hotspot providers – and 

FON – a wi-fi community in 

which people share access to 

their personal wi-fi. 

It is estimated that the 

Gravel will retail for around 

£200, a price that will include 

a router and, initially free, 

access to CommodoreWorld. 

commodore-gravel.com 

Microsoft Blowout 

Microsoft’s COO, Kevin 

Turner, has revealed a triple 

software launch for 

February 27th 2008. Turner 

announced that Windows 

Server 2008, Visual Studio 

2008 and Microsoft SQL 

Server 2008 will launch at 

an event in LA, kicking off 

hundreds of launch events 

around the world. 

www.microsoft.com 

Green group 

targets the 

tech industry 

ENVIRONMENTAL advisory 

group the Energy Saving 

Trust is offering its ‘Energy 

Saving Recommended’ 

accreditation to the most 

efficient 20 per cent of 

technology products. 

The not-for-profit 

organisation identified 

technology products as being 

major contributors to power 

consumption in the UK. It is 

hoping its accreditation will 

encourage retailers to stock 

only the ‘greenest’ products, 

as it can serve as a powerful 

differentiator between 

otherwise similar products. 

In its report, snappily 

entitled The Ampere Strikes 

Back, the trust listed 

information, communication 

and entertainment as major 

energy consumers, 

estimating that by 2020 they 

will account for almost half 

of domestic power 

consumption. 

The Energy Saving Trust 

states as its mission 

statement ‘to reduce UK 

emissions of carbon dioxide, 

one of the greenhouse gases 

responsible for climate 

change, by 20 per cent of 

1990 levels by 2010’. 

Your Dell 

Dell is preparing to launch 

a line of laptop and 

desktop computers aimed 

at small businesses called 

Vostro. The range of is being 

targeted at businesses with 

25 or less employees and is 

tipped to come with 

subscription-based services 

and a dedicated tech 

support staff. 

www.dell.co.uk 

The Trust wants 

to reduce UK 

emissions of 

carbon dioxide 

by 20 per cent 

of 1990 levels by 

2010. 

Major retailers such as PC 

World, Currys and Comet 

have already joined the 

initiative and it is looking to 

recruit new members. 

It believes the 

‘Recommended’ 

accreditation could be 

especially valuable to smaller 

retailers, who can explain 

the significance of it to their 

customers. 

www.energysavingtrust. 

org.uk 

Shoppers up 

The latest Retail Traffic 

Index from research group 

SPSL reveals that June saw 

retail footfall rise by three 

per cent year-on-year and 

by 4.4 per cent on May. The 

quarter two numbers were 

up 2.2 per cent against 

2006, a reverse of the 0.9 

per cent drop recorded for 

Q1. 

customercounting.com 

6 PCRetail August www.pcretailmag.com

Enta-Personal 

Enta Technologies has a 

new addition to Entaonline. 

‘Meet the Team’ gives 

customers the chance to 

put faces to names, 

request a call back and 

get a bit of background on 

their contacts. The specialist 

sales team is available to 

speak to customers every 

day. 

www.entaonline.co.uk 

AMD price cuts 

AMD has dropped the RRPs 

across its whole desktop 

processor range. “AMD cut 

the price of the 3GHz Athlon 

64 FX-74 from $799 to $599,” 

said the site. “The dual-core 

FX-72's price remains 

unchanged, but the 

remainder of the dual-core 

desktop CPUs, the Athlon 64 

X2 line, became cheaper.” 

www.amd.com 

Avnet and Sapphire 

Avnet Technology Solutions 

EMEA is to offer Sapphirebranded 

AMD/ATI graphics 

cards across EMEA. The 

agreement will see Avnet 

market and distribute 

Sapphire products to 

leading edge PC 

manufacturers through its 

extensive network of 

resellers. 

www.avnet.com 

Broadband 

satisfaction 

A report into customer 

satisfaction of broadband 

services, based on responses 

from nearly 9,000 home 

phone and nearly 11,000 

broadband users, shows that 

consumers have yet to see 

any improvement. Free 

providers came bottom of 

the survey. 

www.uswitch.co.uk 

NEWS 

Sony unveils its retail vision 

Research leads to creation of a new consumer friendly retail environment in London hotspot... 

by Scott Bicheno 

THE SHINY new ‘VAIO 

experience’ has been opened at 

its flagship Sony Centre on 

Tottenham Court Road. 

While it only occupies the 

first floor, on first inspection it 

makes the Apple store look like 

a corner shop. 

Its aim is to create more of 

an ‘experience’ for customers 

by allowing them to try out 

products. Sony’s research has 

found that the traditional retail 

set-up is too intimidating and 

has driven customers on to the 

Internet or put them off 

purchasing altogether. 

The new concept focuses on 

VAIO laptops. However, it aims 

to concentrate on the lifestyle 

benefits of the products rather 

than purely the technical 

specifications. It does this by 

segmenting the range into ‘In 

Home’ and ‘On the Move’ 

laptops, to allow consumers to 

identify the correct product for 

their lifestyle needs. 

In the ‘In Home’ section 

there are a number of sub 

categories: Simple Computing, 

All Purpose, High Performance 

and Digital Home. Within the 

‘On the Move’ section are the 

following sub categories: All 

Purpose, High Performance and 

Ultra Portable products. 

Nicolas Barendson, VAIO 

business unit head at Sony UK, 

explained: “The new VAIO 

“We are making a considerable 

investment in the experience of 

our consumers.” 

experience has been designed 

to increase footfall into stores 

through a relaxed and informal 

environment that encourages 

shoppers to interact with our 

portfolio of products so they 

can find the model that best 

suits their needs.” 

The intriguing news for the 

retail channel is that Sony plans 

to extend the initiative across 

the country in due course. 

“This is not a one-off 

initiative,” said Barendson. 

“Instead we are making a 

considerable investment in the 

experience of our consumers 

and we are also rolling this 

concept out across 20 of our 

key stores across the UK.” 

The Vaio Experience 

focuses on the lifestyle 

benefits of the products 

rather than the 

technical specifications 

VAIO CONSUMER 

RESEARCH KEY FINDINGS 

■ Price is not at the top of the consumer 

decision tree 

■ The retail environment is undifferentiated, 

confusing and stressful for the shopper 

■ In-store communications encourage the shopper 

to make their decision based on price and 

specification alone 

■ Shoppers are taking weeks to make a notebook 

purchase decision 

SIGN UP FOR THE PC RETAIL NEWSFLASH SERVICE AT WWW.PCRETAILMAG.COM 

HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray 

HD-DVD players are 

outselling rival Blu-ray 

players by a margin of 

three-to-one, according to 

the European HD-DVD 

Promotional Group. HD- 

DVD has a 74 per cent 

market share in the likes of 

Britain, Germany, France, 

Italy, Spain and Switzerland 

for standalone players. 

www.hddvd.org 


NEWS 

Trade bodies rally to 

find WEEE compromise 

DTI advises independent trade bodies of a possible solution to the unfair WEEE burden... 

INDEPENDENT RETAIL trade 

bodies ITACS and NASCR have 

continued their lobbying of the 

Government over the unfair 

burden of the WEEE 

regulations on smaller outfits. 

On July 6th this took them 

to the Department of Trade and 

Industry, where they met the 

director and assistant director 

responsible for WEEE. 

The key development to 

emerge from the meeting was 

the possibility of local 

authorities allowing smaller 

retailers to use registered DCF 

(distributor collection facility) 

civic amenity sites. Apparently 

nothing in the WEEE directive 

prevents this, but pre-existing 

regulation does. 

It appears that local 

authorities have the power to 

disregard this legislation if they 

choose, an option already being 

exercised by Wessex County 

Council, with others expected 

to follow. However, even 

Wessex’s concession limits the 

amount of waste allowable to 

what seems to be an 

unrealistically small amount. 

“The major outcome of the 

meeting has been the 

establishment of a 

communication channel where 

none previously existed,” 

News Bytes 

Netgear joins with 

Bell Micro 

Netgear and Bell Micro 

have teamed up to give 

retailers a helping hand 

with selling network 

solutions in the UK. The 

deal will see the firms 

supporting the sale of 

Netgear’s ProSafe 

business products. 

www.netgear.com 

ARMSTRONG (inset): “Our major concern is the expensive WEEE transportation cost burden” 

Hendy Armstrong, ITACS 

Secretary told PC Retail. 

“Our major concern has 

always been the expensive 

WEEE transportation cost 

burden – in our view a very 

real business killer. We do hope 

the enlightened policy of West 

Sussex County Council 

cascades in time across the 

country,” he continued. 

Museum of UK 

Computing 

The UK is to get a museum 

dedicated to its place in 

the early development on 

computing technologies. 

The National Museum of 

Computing will be at 

Bletchley Park – where the 

Allies broke the codes used 

by Germany in WWII. 

bletchleypark.org.uk 

“However, we feel that a 

limit of eight computer 

monitors per year applied by 

that Authority is a serious 

restriction to our businesses.” 

There was also a clarification 

of the situation regarding ‘joint 

and several liability’ in 

producer compliance schemes 

(PCS). The DTI advised that 

such a thing does not exist and 

Chimei hits UK 

UK distributor VIP is 

introducing the CHIMEI 

brand by MIRAI for its 

range of LCD monitors. 

CHIMEI is already 

renowned in Asia as a 

leading LCD TV and 

monitor brand and is the 

world’s third largest supplier 

of LCD TV panels. 

www.chimei.com.tw 

that members are only liable for 

their own obligations whether 

or not other members fail. 

What this news implies for any 

PCS’ that have sold insurance 

to cover such an eventuality 

remains to be seen. 

It has been suggested that, 

pending a full resolution of the 

problem, smaller retailers 

should explore the possibility of 

Second-shop 

Second Life, the popular 

virtual reality portal, has 

seen the first retailer selling 

products through the 

program. Depending upon 

the success of the trial, it 

could signal a move 

towards the world of the 

virtual High Street with 

more retailers moving in. 

www.secondlife.com 

access to private DCFs and 

Waste Transfer Stations. Jenny 

Stimpson, a NASCR committee 

member, agrees but thinks 

retailers should proceed with 

caution. 

“Many Councils run 

detection programmes and the 

consequences can be severe if 

caught,” she told PC Retail. 

“To help us in monitoring 

development the Associations 

would be grateful if individual 

businesses enquire if the local 

authority is indeed considering 

changing its policy and, if so, 

by when and let us know." 

It seems that the ball is still 

very much in the DTI’s court, 

with decisive action necessary 

before independents start 

crumbling under the financial 

burden of complying with 

WEEE in its current form. 

ITACS and NASCR intend to 

remain diligent. 

“In the course of the coming 

weeks we shall be checking the 

rate of advance of Local 

Authority policy change and 

forming a view on its effective 

distribution,” said Armstrong. 

“Our associations take the 

view that the WEEE wheel is 

indeed round but a few spokes 

are still missing and these affect 

our independent sector most.” 

Hama-time 

Hama PVAC has officially 

re-branded to Hama (UK) 

as it continues to focus on 

UK growth. MD Nick Grey 

said: “Hama has evolved 

over the past few years 

and our presence in the UK 

has grown. We felt it was 

the right time to focus on 

our image and our future.” 

www.hama.co.uk 


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Sales Projections 

PANASONIC has unveiled its new 

F100 series of projectors, designed to 

offer long lasting performance, 

increased brightness and advanced 

energy saving control. The F100 

series currently consists of two 

models – the PT-FW100NT and the 

PT-F100NaT. 

Both models offer Panasonic’s 

range of technologies, which improve 

brightness, ease of use and, most 

importantly, incorporate an Anti-Dust 

design and Auto Rolling Filter which 

work together to keep the air inside 

the projector dust-free at all times. 

This maintains high picture 

brightness for longer and eliminates 

the need for the end-user to regularly 

maintain and clean the projector 

filter. The electrostatic air filter uses 

ions to attract and collect dust 

particles and minimises image 

degradation due to dust. 

www.panasonic.co.uk 

Six new Sweex mice 

squeak into retail 

SWEEX has unveiled a range of six 

new mice designed for a variety of 

different uses. 

The Notebook Optical Retractable 

USB, which has a retractable USB 

cable making it ideal for laptop users 

– the mouse is also available in a laser 

variety. It is also possible to buy a 

non-retractable version of the mouse. 

The company has also created a 

range of mice for desktop PCs. 

The MI550 laser mouse comes 

with three mouse buttons and a scroll 

wheel. Also available are two 

variations of Sweex’s top of the line 

five-button mice: one wired and the 

other wireless. 

www.sweex.com 

MARKETPLACE 


MARKETPLACE 

Barracuda 

1TB drives 

boost Seagate 

portfolio 

SEAGATE HAS unveiled a series of oneterabyte 

drives which are set to go on sale 

later this year. 

Aimed at both enterprise and 

consumers, the Barracuda 7200.11 and 

Barracuda ES.2 are being positioned as 

the perfect drives for those who are 

looking to upgrade or build their own PCs 

as high definition and content driven 

media platforms become more and more 

common. 

Based around a design using four disks, 

the drives have low power consumption 

and also benefit from low operating 

temperatures. 

Both of the drives also have 7,200-rpm 

spin speeds giving average seek times of 

just 8.5ms. 

The drives can also cache up to 32MB 

of information and come with Seagate’s 

five-year warranty. 

www.seagate.com 



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Roll out on for new 

SideShow book 

VIP COMPUTER CENTRE is now stocking a 

dual screen notebook from ASUS featuring 

‘SideShow’, designed for quick and easy access 

on the go. 

The ASUS W5Fe is a compact 12.1-inch wide 

notebook with an additional 2.8-inch SideShow 

display on the outer cover. The W5Fe’s auxiliary 

display is a short cut to viewing a wide range of 

information, including meeting schedules, phone 

numbers, addresses and recent email messages. 

The idea behind Sideshow is that if you need 

to check a meeting agenda or new email while 

on the move, you can access this data without 

opening and booting up the notebook. It also has 

the ability to keep you entertained on a long 

journey, as you can use SideShow to view 

photos, play music and games, and it can even 

act as a mobile navigation device, guiding your 

way with an onscreen map display. 

Portable and powerful, the ASUS W5FE 

features a slim, lightweight design and Intel 

Centrino Duo Mobile 

Technology. A built-in 1.3 

mega-pixel 235-degree 

swivel webcam and 

microphone, plus exclusive 

LiveFrame software developed for 

the W5Fe, allows easy capturing, 

recording and playing of photos and 

videos too. 

Product manager at VIP, Stuart Watson 

said: "VIP is excited to introduce this 

revolutionary laptop to the UK. As the first 

notebook PC to support 'SideShow' gadgets, e.g. a 

second screen on the external lid, the W5Fe has 

already generated a huge amount of interest.” 

Account manager for the Notebook Team at 

ASUS, Valeriy Kosovan added: “Once again 

ASUS has produced a highly innovative product. 

The ASUS W5Fe is the first dual screen 

notebook, allowing users to enjoy new Window 

Vista features and making long journeys easier." 

MARKETPLACE 


MARKETPLACE 

Special " Grade A" HITACHI products offer 

26"LC6600 ..................................£245 

32"LD6600 ..................................£310 

37"LD6600 ..................................£435 

42"PD6600 ..................................£465 

55"PD9700 "FreeView" 1080i ..........£1099 

TO ADVERTISE IN 

MARKETPLACE 

CALL CARLY BAILEY 

ON 01992 535647 

Gemini 

technology redefined 

7“ & 10” Digital Photo Frames 

Gemini Sonic 

77-87 Scrubs Lane, London, NW10 6QW 

Ph: 020 8960 6655 Fax: 020 8964 0694 Email: sales@geminisonic.co.uk 

Showroom Open: Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm 

Sonic 

MP3/MP4 

Digital Media Players Web Cams 

Check on-line now for our latest summer deals 

PATA & SATA HDD Cases 2.5” & 3.5” 

Wireless Optical Mice 

www.geminisonic.co.uk 

All fully guaranteed for 2 years. Prices exclude VAT & delivery 

DVD recorder + camcorder also available 

Please call for prompt delivery: 

0208 330 0650 

Check our www.fontatv.com website 



Sonic BooM 

TWINMOS has announced its new BooM series of iPod-inspired docking and 

speaker accessories. The first in the series to be launched in the UK is the 

BooM1 – a charging dock and speaker system that comes with a subwoofer 

and the ability to connect to TVs to view videos and look at photos stored on 

the docked iPod. www.twinmos.com 




BELKIN has launched what it hopes 

will be the end to that eternal 

conundrum of messy wires and 

worries about surges. 

The new Belkin Concealed Surge 

Protector organises up to eight plugs, 

including the larger block adaptors 

and keeps out of view wires that 

would have otherwise likely become 

tangled and become a safety hazard. 

The device is also designed to 

ensure that it cannot be opened by 

accident or by children, reducing the 

The new device can 

organise up to eight 

plugs, keeping wires out 

of view 

Belkin Surges ahead 

risk of electrocution. A single light lets 

users know if everything is working 

reducing the time the device needs to 

be open, further reducing danger. 

The device also comes with 

phone/fax and modem connections, 

as well as a single on/off switch that 

controls of the ports. It also comes 

with a connected equipment 

warranty of up to £175,000 which 

guarantees to protect any products 

linked to it. 

www.belkin.com 

Ilford grows paper line 

PHOTO paper specialist Ilford has 

unveiled its range of specialist inkjet 

paper for the photo enthusiast. 

Coming in three collections – pink, 

silver and gold, signifying the papers 

quality – each has their own use. 

Pink is aimed at sharing and 

exchanging everyday photos, Silver 

is for persevering special family 

photos, meanwhile Gold is for 

displaying photos in frames. 

The paper also comes in a variety 

of sizes – ranging from 4x6 

snapshot paper to A3+ professional 

for framing those larger, special 

images. 

All varieties are quick dry and 

compatible with all good quality 

inkjet printers. 

www.ilford.com 

MARKETPLACE 




New Radeon arrives 

AMD has announced the arrival of 

the ATI Radeon HD 2600 and the 

ATI Radeon HD 2400, two graphics 

cards designed to work with 

Windows Vista and Direct X 10. 

The two cards, based around the 

energy efficient 65nm process 

technology – one entry level (2400), 

the other mid-range (2600) – are 

designed for use with high definition 

media content. 

Both cards feature AMD’s unified 

video decoder (UVD) for advanced 

hardware processing and HDMI with a 

built-in high definition audio controller 

for stunning big-screen entertainment. 

The cards also come with 

CyberLink’s PowerDVD Ultra, which 

offers support for HD-DVD and Bluray 

discs and also utilises AMD’s 

UVD technology. 

ati.amd.com 

TO ADVERTISE IN MARKETPLACE CALL 

CARLY BAILEY ON 01992 535647 

� Highest Quality 

� Competitive Prices 

� Fast Response 

� Large Stocks 

� Next Day Delivery 

� Free Samples 

® 

MARKETPLACE 

INKJET, PHOTO PAPER 

& CD-LABEL SUPPLIER 

Contact: 

Paper Elements Ltd 

Tel: 01623 558093 

Fax: 01623 557100 

email: info@paper-elements.co.uk 

www.paper-elements.co.uk 

BS07 

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Call 0845 838 0832 or download at ESET.co.uk. 2007 © 


MARKETPLACE 

Jumbo launch 

from Innovage 

INNOVAGE has launched a 

universal remote control that aims 

to be the user-friendliest device of its 

kind on the market – and is aimed 

at solving several of the major 

problems that normal remotes cause 

and suffer from. 

The Jumbo Universal Remote 

combines all the functionality that 

you’d expect from a replacement 

remote control from the ability to 

connect four devices through to it 

being easy to use and replacing all 

the functions of your old remote. 

It also comes with a programmable 

'off' button, which can switch off 

devices such as a DVD player 

without switching off others. 

However, the most obvious use 

for the control, and one of the 

things Innovage is keen to put 

across, is its accessibility for less able 

people including those with poor 

eyesight and mobility disabilities, as 

well as the elderly. Another 

accessibility feature are the soft 

touch keys, which aside from being 

far larger than normal keys, are 

designed so as not to hurt more 

fragile fingers. 

Of course, it is also great for those 

people who have a habit of 

forgetting where they put the 

remote since it's that big that it 

would be pretty hard to lose. 

www.jumbo-remote.com 



PC Cables 

USB Cables 

Firewire Cables 

Printer Leads 

Scart Cables 

Telephone 

Accessories 

Modem Cables 

IDE Cables 

UTP Patch Cables 

Crossover Cables 

Microphones 

Headsets 

Mouse Mats 

USB to Serial 

Best in PC Cabling 

Your One Stop Shop 

for all your Needs! 

USB to PS/2 

USB to Parallel 

USB to Game Port 

USB Infrared 

Adaptor 

USB Card Readers 

USB to Ethernet 

USB to Switch 

Boxes 

PCI Cards 

PCMCIA Cards 

KVM Switch 

Boxes 

Printers 

Scanners 

CD/DVD 

Media 

Floppy 

Disks 

Storage Cases 

CD Re-Writers 

DVD Re-Writers 

Duplicator Boxes 

Compatible Ink 

Matt/Photo Paper 

CD/DVD Labels 

Mouse/Keyboard 

Speakers 

Webcams 

& Much More! 

Mail Order Service Available 

Opening Times 

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday 9.00am to 6.30pm 

Thursday/Friday 9.00am to 7.00pm Saturday CLOSED Sunday 9.00am to 4.00pm 

SDA Trading (UK) Ltd, 18 Moulton Street, Manchester, M8 8FQ 

Tel: (+44) 0161 819 1515 Fax: (+44) 0870 236 0247 

www.sdatrading.com sales@sdatrading.com 




Laptop Batteries, Power Adapters 

& Printer Spares 

Visit www.psaparts.co.uk 

or Call +44 (0)870 873 2002 

Huge Range of Stock Available for Next Day Delivery 

P S A 

Parts 

Limited 

All trademarks acknowledged 

MARKETPLACE 

New Sony Vaio storms in 

WITH THE VAIO VGC-RM1N desktop 

Sony is offering consumers, business 

users and professionals the hardware 

and software needed to provide 

professional-level HD editing capability. 

In a radical departure from the 

norms of desktop design, the RM1N’s 

system unit comes in two parts. The 

primary chassis holds the 

motherboard and major components, 

while the secondary unit houses the 

optical drives. 

Aimed at giving users 

huge flexibility in the way 

they set the machine up, 

it has the potential to 

revolutionise the way 

people arrange their PCs. 

The optical unit can be 

placed under the monitor 

for easy access, 

while the system 

unit is stood off 

to one side. Both 

units can stand 

vertically and 

horizontally. 

Sony claims that the RM1N has 

been designed to be the pinnacle of 

the HD world, utilising the highest 

quality components from leading 

technology partners such as Intel, 

Nvidia and Adobe. The RM1N also 

comes with Windows Vista Business. 

The VAIO RM1N is supplied with a 

video editing Jog controller, which is 

fully compatible with the pre-installed 

copy of Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0. 

In addition, the Sony VAIO RM1N 

is supplied with all that is needed for 

handling HD content. WinDVD BD 

for VAIO lets you watch HD-format 

movies, and full HDCP support means 

consumers can enjoy the latest Blu-ray 

High Definition Hollywood releases. 

In order to give the VAIO RM1N 

the power it needs to tackle the 

demanding work of HD video editing 

it has the very latest Intel® Core 2 

Quad processor. With four processor 

cores and 8MB of shared L2 cache, 

this represents the state-of-the-art CPU 

for professional-grade multimedia 

applications. There’s a similarly 

impressive amount of storage, with a 

twin disk Serial ATA RAID 0 array 

totalling 1 terabyte (1000GB). 

The RM1N also comes with the 

Nvidia GeForce® 8600 GTS built-in to 

tackle the sheer load of work that is a 

by-product of HD video processing and 

rendering. From video manipulation to 

high-end gaming, with full DirectX 10 

support, superlative 3D effects and 

performance backed by 256MB of 

GDDR3 video memory, this is a GPU 

that delivers exactly what is required 

for HD video editing. 

The system unit has room for an 

additional four SATA hard disks, and 

there are three open PCI-Express 

slots capable of taking full-length 

cards. It also comes with 10 USB 2.0 

connectors and three firewire ports 

that are front-mounted. 

“The RM1N will exert a unique 

appeal for those needing serious HD 

editing capability,” said product 

manager for VAIO Digital Home 

products at Sony UK, Chris Trewhitt. 

“It has quad-core processing power, 

professional software pre-installed, a 

specialised Jog controller for speeding 

up editing, and it has Blu-ray Disc. So 

once you’re done you can record 

50GB of high-definition video on a 

single-sided disc.” 

with over 1,400 product lines in stock 

01480 435 881 

sales@realtimeltd.co.uk • www.realtimeonline.co.uk 


Logitech expands range 

to include notebook bags 

New products include notebook cases, webcams and a wireless 'Wii style' mouse 

LOGITECH has entered the 

notebook bag market with the 

launch of two new products 

aimed at stealing a piece of the 

highly lucrative notebook 

essentials market. 

As notebook PC sales 

outpace desktop PC sales, a 

more diverse set of consumers 

are enjoying the benefits of the 

compact notebook. A recent 

Logitech-sponsored study of 

more than 1,000 notebook 

users highlighted four types of 

notebook users: home users; 

younger users; technology 

enthusiasts; and mobile 

professionals. 

Logitech’s two new 

advanced notebook cases, the 

Logitech Kinetik 15.4 Backpack 

and the Logitech Kinetik 15.4 

Briefcase, offer a flexible take 

on the traditional notebook 

case. Both feature an exo-shell 

casing, which helps protect the 

laptop from damage, and a 

contoured back panel, which 

conforms to the back. 

A unique compartmental 

design provides organised bays 

for devices and access to the 

laptop and other equipment. 

Both cases are made from 

lightweight, durable materials 

and are easy to carry and built 

to last. 

In addition to the bags, 

Logitech announced that 

following the sale of its 50 

millionth webcam, it has 

entered into a collaboration 

with lens maker Carl Zeiss to 

fit co-designed lenses into its 

new webcams. The Logitech 

QuickCam Pro 9000 and the 

QuickCam Pro for Notebooks 

are the first webcams to meet 

Zeiss’s world-renowned 

standards for lens design and 

manufacturing 

The company also revealed a 

new mouse, which works in a 

similar way to the hugely 

popular Nintendo console, Wii. 

The MX Air Rechargeable 

Cordless mouse works by using 

gesture commands to control 

certain aspects of the PC such 

as volume. 

AMD to offer regular processors 

and low-power alternatives 

CHIP giant AMD has 

announced that it will, for the 

first time ever, be launching 

both regular and low-power 

versions of its new Barcelona 

Quad-Core Opteron processors. 

It is also the first x86 CPU 

range to incorporate four 

processing cores onto a single 

die of silicon. 

It is designed to work in 

the same thermal envelopes as 

current generation Opteron 

processors while offering a 

performance increase of up to 

70 per cent. 

The processor range is due 

for shipment to platform 

partners this month with the 

first hardware complete with 

the new processors arriving 

on the shelves and catalogues 

of retailers and resellers next 

month. 

“More than ever before, 

customers are expecting 

energy-efficiency and 

performance-per-watt 

leadership as much as 

absolute performance. 

“With this new reality of 

computing, greater 

performance at the expense of 

greater power consumption is 

no longer an option," said 

corporate vice president, 

Server and Workstation 

Division at AMD, Randy 

Allen. 

“AMD has prioritised 

production of our low power 

and standard power products 

Logitech’s new 

Kinetik 15.4 

backpack 

AMD the first chipmaker to do so with its Quad-Core Opteron processors 

because our customers and 

ecosystem demand it,” he 

went on to say. 

“And we firmly believe that 

the introduction of our native 

Quad-Core AMD Opteron 

processor will deliver on the 

promise of the highest levels 

of performance-per-watt the 

industry has ever seen.” 

NEWS 

CONSUMER 

PRESS 

This month we look at x and x... 

£799 Base Units 

● Editor’s Choice: Chillblast 

Fusion Oblivion 

● Recommended: Evesham 

Solar 8800GT 

Dual Digital TV Tuners 

● Editor’s Choice: Kworld 

PlusTV Dual DVB-T PCI-Express 

● Recommended: 

Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 

● Recommended: CTV Dual 

DVB-T Diversity Stick 

Notebook 

● Recommended: Acer 

Travelmate 6292 

Digital Cameras 

● Recommended: Fujifilm 

Finepix S5 Pro 

Graphics Cards 

● Premium Grade: Nvidia 

GeForce 640MB 8800 GTS 

● Premium Grade: Nvidia 

GeForce 320MB 8800 GTS 

● Premium Grade: ATi 

Radeon X1950XT 

● Approved: Nvidia GeForce 

7800 GT 

Processors 

● Approved: Intel Core 2 Duo 

E6320 

Media Streamer 

● Approved: Logitech Wireless 

DJ 

Cases 

● Approved: Lian Li PC-A12 

Classical Series 

Memory 

● Approved: OCZ PC2-8500 


MARKETPLACE 



Creative’s Stone skims in 

CREATIVE has revealed the Creative ZEN Stone Plus, a new MP3 player that 

complements the ZEN Stone. The ZEN Stone Plus is a featherweight 2GB MP3 

player with a wide selection of features including display, FM radio, 

clock/stopwatch and voice recording. 

It comes in six high-gloss colours: black, white, red, blue, pink and green. It 

also has a similar smooth finish to the Stone, and comes with 2GB of memory 

storing up to 1,000 songs. 

…where IT counts 

“Last month we introduced a huge new market for MP3 players with the 

launch of the ZEN Stone, the tiny, featherweight 1GB MP3 player priced at 

£27.99,” says chairman and CEO of Creative, Sim Wong Hoo. 

“Now, with the ZEN Stone Plus, we are giving consumers another great 

choice. For £49.99 they can have 2GB of memory and a vibrant screen that 

enables them to access their favourite FM radio stations, plus a built-in 

microphone for voice recording.” 

With our database of 600 + top independent IT specialists and 6 

IT field based personnel, we offer a full merchandising service 

into 200 + retailers with a monthly visit carrying out training, 

demonstrations, direct sale and placement of POS. Plus full 

and comprehensive reporting following each monthly call cycle. 

We also offer a team of 100 + merchandisers to provide a merchandising 

service on a weekly basis into any multiple retailer in the UK and Eire. 

Grantham Computers 

For more information on our services please contact Hedley Leyton, General Manager, on 

Tel: 01932 230301 Fax: 01932 230302 or e-mail info@profile123.com 




High-end welcomes 

GeCube 

WITH THE launch of the 

GeCube HD2900XT, the 

GeCube HD2600 and 

HD2400 have now arrived 

on the market to fill the 

hole left in the high-end 

sector. The GeCube 

HD2900XT comes with 

complete support for 

DirectX10 and Universal Video 

Decoder (UVD) technology. 

It also incorporates several 

GeCube technologies, pushing 

the products limits of 

performance. 

It is joined by 

the launch of AGP 8x versions 

of the Radeon HD2600 and 

HD2400 series at the same time. 

Now there’s no excuse 

for being late for work 

EDIFIER has unveiled a new range of 

iPod compatible alarm clocks. 

The retro-styled iPod docks are 

styled like old-style double-bell and 

are comes with a universal docking 

plate so that almost all iPods can be 

used in it. 

In addition, it has 360-degree builtin 

omni-directional speakers designed 

so that no matter where it is in the 

room, you can wake up to the sound 

of the music on your iPod and kicks 

out a huge 85dB to make sure you 

wake up. 

And what’s more, you don’t have 

to worry about forgetting to set your 

alarm either as the dock 

automatically switches your iPod to 

alarm/clock mode every time. 

Each iPod audio alarm clock 

comes with a large chrome plated 

volume dial on the back, as well as 

coming in three different colours – 

black, white and pink. 

EASY Digital TV 

From PEAK 

PEAK Digital TV Tuner 

USB Stick 

• DVB-T (Free-to-air digital TV) 

• Real-time digital video recording 

• Supports electronic program guide 

• Scheduled recording 

© Copyright VIP Computer Centre Limited. 2007 

www.vip-computers.com/uk 

Sales: 08701 648 501 

MARKETPLACE 

£11.48 

Order Code: 238277 


MARKETPLACE 



Just adds to portfolio 

with ViSo UK deal 

VISO allows your mobile phone to 

connect to up to four wired or wireless 

USB video cameras via your PC. Not 

only can you record and connect to a 

live stream, but you can also set ViSo 

to send alerts directly to you when set 

to motion detection. 

User friendly, the initial unit comes 

with a high quality USB camera with 

night vision. The package will retail for 

£99.99, but unlike similar products 

available, there are no additional 

subscription charges, only the standard 

charges of your mobile phone provider 

for downloading data. 

Just Distribution has signed the 

exclusive distribution rights for ViSo 

mobile phone Video Surveillance 

System for the UK leisure market. 

“Products like ViSo are a natural 

progression for Just – both we and our 

customer base have a keen interest in 

the latest gadgets available to the 

leisure sector, and with home security 

being ever increasingly important to 

your average consumer,” said director 

of Just Distribution, Russell Clark. 

“ViSo is the perfect piece of equipment 

for those with a limited budget, as well 

as those people who want cutting edge 

technology on their mobile phones.” 

Added Bruno Mercolli of ViSo: “Just’s 

reputation as a company hungry to 

grow and diversify in its chosen sector 

and their successes so far made it an 

easy choice for us to make when 

choosing our partners in each territory.” 

Just: 01992 703810 




DISTRIBUTOR DIRECTORY 

3A Distribution 0208 358 5511 www.3adl.com 

Abacom 01483 303455 www.abacom.co.uk 

Acme Technology 0208 963 3300 www.acmetech.co.uk 

Advance Technologies 0870 777 3786 www.advancetec.co.uk 

Aone Distribution 0161 763 3633 www.aone.co.uk 

Aria Technology 0870 443 2381 www.aria.co.uk 

Asbis 0845 601 7827 www.asbis.ie 

Aventi 01442 298700 www.aventi.com 

Avnet 01628 606 060 www.avnet.com 

Bluepoint 0870 121 8001 www.bluepoint.net 

Blue Solutions 0870 402 0000 www.bluesolutions.co.uk 

Boston 0870 751 5950 www.boston.co.uk 

Bridema 0045 701 03800 www.bridema.com 

Cartex 01765 690 790 www.trade.cartex.co.uk 

Catalus 01672 542 155 www.catalus.co.uk 

Centerprise 01256 378222 www.centerprise-distribution.co.uk 

CMS Computers 0870 336 8000 www.coms-computers.co.uk 

Computer 2000 0870 0603344 www.computer2000.co.uk 

Computer Connections 01423 704700 www.storagecompany.com 

Computer Gear 0121 501 6937 www.computergear.co.uk 

Computers Unlimited 020 83585858 www.unlimited.com 

Dabs.com 0870 429 3942 www.dabs.com/trade 

DVD Technology 01189 215 909 www.dvdtech.com 

Enta Technologies 0870 770 9588 www.entaonline.com. 

ETC Distribution 0845 155 7766 www.etc-dist.co.uk 

Extreme Software 0845 226 9162 www.extremesoftware.co.uk 

Eye Systems 08452 608 908 www.eye-sys.co.uk 

Gem 01279 822822 www.gem.co.uk 

Gemini 0208 960 6655 www.geminisonic.co.uk 

Global Comm 0870 755 5656 www.global-comm.co.uk 

Interchange Distribution 0845 155 6555 www.I-change.co.uk 

Ingram Micro 0870 1660160 www.ingrammicro.co.uk 

Interface Solutions 0871 2300148 www.interfacesolutions.co.uk 

Interactive Ideas 0208 8051000 www.interactiveideas.com 

J&J Associates 01752 336 465 www.jj-associates.com 

JLT Computers 0870 225 5558 www.jltcomputers.co.uk 

Just Distribution 01992 703 810 

Keyboard Company 0845 205 5588 www.keyboardco.com 

KMS Components 02920 713713 www.kmscomponents.com 

Koch Media 0870 0270972 www.kochmedia.com 

Logic3 0208 903 6625 www.logic3.com 

Maxmedia Supplies 01483303455 www.optical-disc.co.uk 

Meroncourt 01462 680060 www.meroncourt.com 

Micro-P 01282 776776 www.micro-p.com 

Microtronica 0870 0119000 www.microtronicauk.com 

Microtec 99 01706 694 000 www.microtec99.com 

Micro Direct 0870 4444 456 www.microdirect.co.uk 

Midwich 01379 649200 www.midwich.com 

MT Electronics 0121 331 8970 www.mt-electronics.com 

Netbit Distribution 0870 777 8776 www.netbit.biz 

Netcom Distributors 01923 808 804 www.netcomonline.co.uk 

Noble Distribution 0845 838 1822 www.nobledistribution.co.uk 

Northamber 0208 2967066 www.northamber.com 

Pinpoint CE 01606 558 428 www.pinpointce.co.uk 

PSA Parts 0870 873 2002 www.psaparts.co.uk 

Pyramid 08700 669100 www.pyramid.com 

RET UK 012648 50892 www.retuk.com 

RD UK 01634 297 500 www.rd-uk.co.uk 

Realtime Distribution 01480 435 881 www.realtimeltd.co.uk 

Resource Development 01634 297 500 www.rd-uk.co.uk 

SDA Trading 0161 819 1515 www.sdatrading.com 

SJ Software 0845 603 6965 www.sjsoftware.co.uk 

Softsource 0870 747 9010 www.softsource.co.uk 

Spectravideo 020 8902 2211 www.spectravideo.com 

Spire Technology 0120 2828444 www.spire.co.uk 

Target Components 0870 7871999 www.tc24.co.uk 

Venom 01763272927 www.venomuk.com 

VIP 08701 648501 www.vip-computers.co.uk 

Westcoast 0118 9126000 www.westcoast.co.uk 

Widget 0870 755 3300 www.widget.co.uk 

XMA 0845 840 8400 www.xma.co.uk 

MARKETPLACE 


OFF THE RECORD 

If you have a funny story, embarrassing picture, or an event you 

would like featured, email scott.bicheno@intentmedia.co.uk 

DIVING FOR CHARITY 

Emma Rae and Paul Young of 

Avanquest recently took part in 

tandem skydives at the Army 

Parachute Association near 

Salisbury. They raised £950 for the 

RSPCA and Oxfam jumping a 

combined 20,000ft. Emma can be 

seen here in mid jump. 

GRAND PRIX WINNER 

SUBTLE PR STUNT 

Internet telephony company 

Jajah has used the time 

honoured technique of 

employing an attractive 

young lady to help it gain 

publicity. PCR would never 

dream of rewarding such a 

stunt with any publicity. 

MONGOL HOARD 

Steve Neal, director of 

Tapcast Computer Services 

in Worcestershire is taking 

part in the Mongol Rally 

2007. This involves driving an 

old 1000cc car from Hyde 

Park, London to Mongolia in 

July and August. There are 

200 cars taking part. But 

there is no back-up 

support on 

the way. 

Good 

luck 

Steve! 

Following Trust 

International's successful 

attendance this year’s 

Channel Expo show, Pete 

Johnson, national 

account manager at Trust 

was pleased to formally 

present, Arfan Sher of Sher 

Bros Trading Company 

with platinum tickets to 

this year’s F1 British Grand 

Prix as winners of its grand 

prize. Trust International is 

a Spyker Formula One 

Team official partner. 

In the hotseat 

Karin Jones, 

Sales and Marketing 

Director, VIP Computers 

How did you get your current job? 

I have been at VIP for almost six 

years. I was originally recruited as 

marketing manager and was 

promoted to sales and marketing 

director about 18 months ago. 

What’s the best thing about it? 

The whole job is great, in particular 

leading a successful team to create 

solutions that make a difference to 

retailers’ businesses. 

And the worst? 

Sometimes the work/life balance is 

challenging. 

Of the technology products you 

currently own, which is your 

favourite? 

My iPod 

What will be the next piece of 

technology you buy? 

An external hard drive to store my 

digital images and music 

If you weren’t doing this interview 

right now what would you be 

doing? 

Developing a campaign with the 

marketing team 

What do you like most about PCR 

magazine? 

Well written, interesting content 

And least? 

Nothing, it’s great! 

To be considered for In The Hotseat 

email Scott.Bicheno@intentmedia.co.uk 


Lenovo’s Latest Desktop Models 

Monitors not included 

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• Pentium® Dual core 2 4300 

Genuine Windows XP Professional 

For full details about the full range, call our Lenovo sales team on 

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sales@interfacesolutions.co.uk 

E&OE. Prices & details correct at time of publication: Please contact your Account Manager or our sales team on the number above for availability and current pricing. All prices quoted trade only and are ex-VAT. Terms & conditions apply - please contact us for full details, qualifications and availability. 

Registered address: Interface Solutions International Ltd, Birmingham International Park, Starley Way, Marston Green, Solihull B37 7GN. Registered in England Company No. 3360868 VAT No. 672 4587 072. 

• 

1GB memory 

160GB hard drive 

DVD-RW Multiburner 

Small form factor chassis 

3 year warranty 

Pricing 

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Options for both models 

• 19” widescreen monitor (T20ANUK) only £105 

Additional 1GB PC2-5300 memory (73P4983) £42 

• 

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Office 2003 SBE (41A4439) £114 

Office 2003 Pro (41A4453) £146 

Lenovo ThinkCentre M55 VTIB3UK 

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Pricing 

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• 10+ £339 + VAT 

Options 

6 cell battery 

Intel® 802.11a/b/g 

Warranty 1 year 

• Extra 1GB memory (40Y7734) now only £42 

Office 2003 Basic (41A4425) £87 

IGM 950 graphics 

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0871 230 2437 

sales@interfacesolutions.co.uk 

E&OE. Prices & details correct at time of publication: Please contact your Account Manager or our sales team on the number above for availability and current pricing. All prices quoted trade only and are ex-VAT. Terms & conditions apply - please contact us for full details, qualifications and availability. 

Registered address: Interface Solutions International Ltd, Birmingham International Park, Starley Way, Marston Green, Solihull B37 7GN. Registered in England Company No. 3360868 VAT No. 672 4587 072. 

• 

Office 2003 SBE (41A4439) £114 

Office 2003 Pro (41A4453) £146 

Lenovo ThinkPad T61 NI25DUK 

• Centrino® Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.83 GHz) 

• 2x512 MB • 120GB/5400rpm 

• DVD±RW DL • 

• 15.4" WXGA TFT(1280x800) 

• Modem, Gigabit LAN • 

• Bluetooth • TPM Security Chip • 

• 6 cell battery • Card reader 4 in 1 

• Windows XP Professional • 

Pricing 

• £918 + VAT 

Options 

Intel X3100, 256MB shared graphics 

Intel® 802.11a/b/g 

Fingerprint reader 

Warranty 3 years 

• Extra 1GB memory (40Y7734) now only £42 

High Capacity 9 cell Battery (40Y6797) £83 

• 

Port Replicator (250510W) £75 

Office 2003 Basic (41A4425) £87 

Office 2003 SBE (41A4439) £114 

Office 2003 Pro (41A4453) £146

Vista Laptops 

● Best Buy: Gateway MT6839b 

● Recommended: Acer Aspire 

5613AWLMi 

Inkjet Printers 

● Best Buy: Canon Pixma 

iP5300 

● Recommended: Canon 

Pixma iP3300 

Headphones 

● Best Buy: Sony MDR-NC22 

● Recommended: Sennheiser 

PXC250 

Browsers 

● Best Buy: Opera 9.20 

Cameras 

● Recommended: Nikon D40x 

Laptops 

Value Award: Samsung Q45 

Editors Choice: Zieo N500 HD 

Desktops 

Value Award: Zoostorm 2-3423 

Performance Award: HSC 

Dark Whisper 

TFT Monitors 

Performance award: Acer 

AL2623W 

Editor's Choice: ViewSonic 

VX2435w,m 

Software 

Editor's Choice: Corel Ulead 

Studio Plus 11 

Performance Award: VMware 

Workstation 6 

Labs – Cameras 

Editor's Choice: 

Fujifilm FinePix F31fd 

Value Award: 

Nikon Coolpix L11 

NEWS 

CONSUMER 

PRESS 

This month we look at Computer 

Buyer and PC Plus... 

An Intelligent solution 

to component cooling 

BFG explains the features and benefits behind its ThermoIntelligence technology 

NVIDIA board partner BFG has 

told PC Retail why it feels its 

new ThermoIntelligence 

technology benefits customers 

and has the potential to not 

only improve the reliability of 

its card’s performance, but also 

prolong the lifespan of the 

products itself. 

The benefit of having 

ThermoIntelligence on the 

card is made all the more 

apparent in that it doesn't 

come at the cost of increased 

noise or the loss of an 

additional hardware slot. 

Aside from keeping it cooler 

than similar cards without the 

technology, it also manages to 

maintain its performance over 

a long period of use thanks to 

the principle that the cooler 

the card is, the closer it can get 

to it's peak performance. 

It doesn't increase 

performance, however, other 

than allowing the card to be 

overclocked more than a 

The best thing out of Canada 

since the Blackberry? 

Device promises fast Internet browsing without compromising the experience 

CANADIAN company 

Datawind officially unveiled 

its latest product, the 

PocketSurfer2 at a recent 

press event in the Canadian 

High Commission in London. 

Talking about the potential 

customer base, Datawind 

spoke about the device’s 

adeptness with popular sites 

such as social networking sites 

such as Facebook and 

MySpace along with other 

functions such as instant 

messaging. 

Datawind was also keen to 

promote the product as a 

similar card without 

ThermoIntelligence technology. 

“The main reason why 

retailers should stock this card 

instead of another similar card 

is that the 8600 GTS 

ThermoIntelligence fansink 

maintains a 5 degrees 

piece of hardware that would 

sit alongside the likes of a 

mobile or Blackberry, allowing 

business people to operate 

outside the office. One of the 

examples given was the 

potential benefit the device 

offers business owners who 

operate via eBay. 

One demonstration was a 

comparison between an 

iPhone and the PocketSurfer2, 

which connects to the 

Internet via an inbuilt Sim 

card. It connects to a phone 

network (currently O2 in the 

UK) via GPRS. The 

The BFG GeForce 8600 GTS 

claims to offer superior cooling 

to other equivalent cards 

centigrade lower GPU 

temperature on average versus 

the Nvidia reference fansink 

with a single card setup,” said 

marketing manager at BFG 

Europe, Graham Brown. 

“For power users running 

dual cards in an Nvidia SLI 

demonstration was between 

the two devices attempting to 

load the auction website. 

It took the iPhone over 

three minutes to load the site. 

configuration, the thermal 

performance gets even better 

with the primary card 

operating at up to 11 degrees 

cooler.” 

“The bottom line is that 

better cooling gives the card 

more stability within its 

performance and long term 

use, which from a consumers 

perspective protects their 

investment,” added Brown. 

“Ever since the inception of 

BFG Tech back in 2002, we 

have been at the forefront of 

high-performance custom 

cooling,” said senior director of 

marketing, Dean Brady. 

“Today with the launch of 

ThermoIntelligence, we have 

renewed our commitment to 

gamers and enthusiasts to 

provide exceptional and 

exclusive cooling solutions on 

BFG Tech graphics cards 

including the new BFG 

NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 

OC2.” 

In comparison, the 

PocketSurfer2 loaded the site 

in seven seconds before 

wandering off to look at 

various other sites. 


PCA NEWS 

Dynamite for Dabs 

By Keith Warburton, CEO, PCA 

After taking Dabs.com to task over some unfair trading terms, the Office of 

Fair Trading asked for some changes to be made to the directives. But the 

jury is still out on whether all distance sellers will comply voluntarily... 

Several years ago the PCA 

got involved at an EU and UK 

government level in 

consultation on the Consumer 

Guarantees Directive. Interestingly 

we were the only voice heard 

across the whole of Europe on 

behalf of IT retailers and direct 

sellers. Happily, we had some of 

the worst provisions removed from 

the directive. 

The Distance Selling Directive, in 

many respects closely allied to 

Consumer Guarantees, was being 

developed at about the same 

time. Once it was passed, it was 

then down to the Member States 

to implement the provisions in their 

national laws. In the UK some of 

these conditions are covered by 

the Consumer Protection (Distance 

Selling) Regulations and some in 

the Sale of Goods Act as 

amended, and some can be 

managed under the Unfair Terms in 

Consumer Contracts Regulations. 

One of the key principals of the 

Distance Selling regulations is that 

consumers should have the same 

rights when buying ‘at a distance’ 

as they have when buying in 

store. Which means among other 

things that they have the right to 

return goods free of charge within 

seven working days of delivery. The 

OFT’s interpretation of this is that if 

a customer changes their mind 

about buying something once 

they’ve received it, not only do 

distance sellers have to refund the 

purchase price, they must also 

refund the cost of delivery. 

Furthermore, once the notice 

about cancellation has been 

issued by the customer, the 

supplier must refund in full within 

30 days – notwithstanding that the 

customer might not actually have 

The OFT changed 

some of its trading 

terms after the 

Dabs incident, but 

will other distance 

sellers comply? 

returned the goods, or that they 

have been received back in a 

used or damaged condition. 

The OFT recently took Dabs.com 

to task for some unfair trading 

terms, and the firm voluntarily 

changed its terms to, for instance, 

remove its previous insistence that 

goods had to be received back 

and condition checked before a 

refund would be issued, and 

refunds didn’t include the cost of 

The Distance Selling 

Directive says that 

consumers should have 

the same rights ‘buying 

at a distance’ as they 

have buying in store 

delivery. But they also had to 

change a condition that stated 

customers ‘needed’ to obtain RMA 

number before returning goods, 

saying instead ‘we request you to 

obtain an RMA number’. There are 

many other changes that have 

been required by the OFT, 

including removing the phrase ‘You 

agree to be bound by terms and 

conditions’ to be replaced with 

‘We strongly advise that you read 

our terms and conditions’. 

Whether you are a distance 

seller, a retailer, a vendor, a 

distributor or a service provider 

you are invited to The Industry 

Conference taking place on 

September 26th. Members of 

organisations that are part of The 

Reseller Committee get a special 

delegate rate of £35. 

The PCA has invited the 

MacTechnology Association to 

hold its conference alongside. Not 

only will delegates have chance 

to gain an insight into other 

technology arenas, they will also 

benefit from the professional 

advice given by our other 

speakers, under the title ‘How to 

stay in business and make money’. 

KEITH WARBURTON IS THE CEO OF THE PROFESSIONAL 

COMPUTING ASSOCIATION, THE 13 YEAR-OLD NOT FOR 

PROFIT TRADE BODY WITH MEMBERSHIP MADE UP OF 

BUSINESSES FROM ALL PARTS OF THE CHANNEL. VISIT 

WWW.PCASSOCIATION.ORG FOR MORE INFORMATION 

OR CALL 0845 634 9245. 


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www.vip-computers.com/uk Sales: 08701 648 501 

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APPOINTMENTS 

PCR adds to team 

Furfie welcomed as new staff writer, while Future, 

OKI and Widget also make changes... 

PC Retail ■ Following the move of 

former deputy editor Andrew 

Wooden to sister title MCV – the 

trade magazine for the computer 

games industry – PC Retail is 

delighted to announce the 

appointment of Ben Furfie to the 

role of staff writer. 

Furfie had previously worked in a 

similar capacity on MCV having 

been recruited on the basis of his 

experience as a freelance 

journalist in the fields of gaming 

and mobile technology. 

Widget/Datawind ■ At the 

recent press event for the 

PocketSurfer2, it was announced 

that David Elder commercial 

director at UK distributor Widget, is 

to work with Datawind as its new 

chief operation officer. 

He will be heading up the 

European side of the company as 

it looks to expand its operations 

across Europe. 

At the press event, he made it 

clear he felt that the Datawind's 

device is going to be the biggest 

product Widget has handled since 

the TomTom and suggested that it 

could even out perform that. 

Elder will also be retaining his 

position at Widget. 

OKI ■ After serving as acting 

managing director since March, 

Phil Scrase has been appointed as 

the company’s new UK managing 

director and regional vice 

president for the Western region 

with immediate effect. The 

appointment of Scrase, a 15-year 

veteran of OKI, comes after the 

early retirement of Chris Gill. 

During his period as acting 

managing director he also 

continued in his role of vice 

president of consumables EMEA. 

Future ■ The former deputy editor 

of features at Computeractive, 

Luke Peters has joined Future’s 

flagship technology magazine T3. 

Joining the gadget magazine and 

website, Peters will work with the 

editor, Michael Brook to continue 

the editorial development of T3. 

The UK edition produces a large 

body of the content syndicated 

across T3’s growing portfolio of 

From top: PCR’s Ben Furfie, OKI’s Phil 

Scrase and Luke Peters from Future 

international editions, currently 

standing at 22 worldwide. 

In his most recent position, he 

commissioned and edited 

consumer technology and 

gadget features for the title, as 

well as producing podcasts and 

video content for its associated 

website. Peters will continue to 

regularly write about technology 

for The Sunday Express. 

www.pcretailmag.com

Unleash the 

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ATI, the ATI logo, Avivo, Catalyst, CrossFire, the CrossFire logo, Radeon, The Ultimate Visual Experience and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft, Vista, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United 

States and/or other countries.Valve, the Valve logo, Half-Life, the Half-Life logo, Portal, the Portal logo, Team Fortress, the Team Fortress logo, Steam, the Steam logo, Day of Defeat: Source, and the Lambda logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks fo Valve Corporation in the U.S. and/or 

other countries. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Features, performance and specification and specifications may vary by operating enironment and are subject to change without notice.

INDIE PROFILE 

POSITIVE COMPUTING 

Norfolk optimism 

Brigantia’s Clive Bishop visits an East Anglian business support specialist... 

This month sees me writing 

about Positive Computing at 

Heacham near Kings Lynn in 

East Anglia. Positive 

Computing was founded by 

Richard Dix in January 2000 

from his farmhouse kitchen 

table following on from the 

decline in his native industry. 

Positive Computing offers a 

full support and repair service 

for both Microsoft and Apple 

Mac users, supplies and 

supports wireless broadband 

services for villages and 

caravan parks in the area and 

offers a full web hosting and 

design service. It sees its core 

market as the home and 

SOHO/SME area, as well as 

doing a good deal of IT 

support work with local 

charities in particular 

maintaining the IT 

infrastructure for West Norfolk 

Citizen Advice Bureau, Aids 

East and KLARS (Kings Lynn 

Refugee Service). 

Positive Computing has a 

policy of providing all wireless 

network customers with AVG 

SL-6399 

Media Remote Control, MCE 

The remote control allows you to access the Media Center ® of your 

PC at the press of a button and gives you complete control over all 

TV and video functions. You have access to all multimedia data 

from television broadcasters to videos including your own photo 

albums - all from the comfort of your sofa. 

Positive computing was founded in a farmhouse kitchen 

protection and is an AVG 

reseller partner. Having been a 

farmer, Dix is very well known 

locally and subsequently 

supports many local farms and 

agricultural dealers. “We only 

provide quality products and 

will not compete purely on 

price just to get the job,” said 

Dix. “In a village setting if 

anything goes wrong because 

you have provided poor quality 

cheap products, then the word 

soon gets about.” 

Dix told me he found the 

Brigantia member forums 

invaluable as well as the 

power of the ‘Part Finder’ 

stock availability and price 

comparison system. 

Regular email updates from 

Brigantia associate members 

also help to keep them 

informed of the latest deals 

and trends. 

Dix feels the twice-yearly 

Brigantia Member Roadshows 

are a must for all serious indies 

and he is particularly keen on 

such special deals as the 

member only terms with AVG. 

Speed Link from Meroncourt 

SL-6241-A01 

Speed Link Mousepad ‘Girls Hotpants’ 

Hot designs from the Games Convention, the biggest computer 

games show in Europe. Here is a fitting mouse pad featuring a soft 

covering for the gap between shows. Anti-static textile covering. 

Just 1.5mm thick. Non-slip underside. Suitable for use with all 

optical and mechanical mice 

Fact Box 

Year established: 2000 

Regular vendor lines 

stocked/supplied: AVG 

Antivirus, Microsoft, 

Apple, Netgear, APC 

Number of staff: Three 

Address: 

Unit 1 Marea Farm, 

School Road 

Heacham, Kings Lynn, 

Norfolk 

PE31 7DH 

Telephone number: 

01485 572253 

Email: mail@ 

positivecomputing.co.uk 

Website: 

positivecomputing.co.uk 

SL-8265-SBK 

Serenity XXL 2.1 Sound System 

Any title will immediately become a lasting memory. You will be 

able to hear fine details which were previously hidden with the 

Serenity. Whether using it with a PC, DVD or an MP3 player, the 

Serenity never ceases to amaze with brilliant and balance sound 

from start to finish. 

For a complete list of Speed Link products in stock, please 

Exclusive UK & Irish distributor 

visit our web site at http://trade.meroncourt.co.uk 

Meroncourt Europe Ltd • 610 Jubilee Road • Letchworth • Herts • SG6 1NE 

Tel: +44 (0)1462 680060 • Fax: +44 (0)1462 680070 • Email: sales@meroncourt.com • Web Site: http://trade.meroncourt.co.uk

8500GT (256MB) 

www.foxconnreseller.com 

N68S7AA-8EKRS2H 

• NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI 

• Supports Socket 775 processors 

including Intel® Core2 Quad and 

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• ATX 

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• Dual channel DDRII 533/667/800 

memory 

• 3 x PCI Express x16 slots. 

• 7x Serial ATAII ports, RAID 

• 1x external “eSATA” connection 

• 8-channel HD Audio 

• Dual Gigabit LAN 

• 1x Firewire, 10x USB 2.0 ports 

• FoxOne Technology 

8600GTS (256MB & overclocked versions) 

Unrivalled Quality 

and Reliability 

New Award Winning products from Foxconn 

P35A 

• Intel P35 & ICH9 Chipset 

• Supports Socket 775 processors 

including Intel® Core2 Quad and 

Core2 Duo 

• ATX 

• Supports FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz 

• Dual channel DDRII 667/800/1066 

memory 


• 4x Serial ATAII & 1x eSATA ports 


• Gigabit LAN 

• Supports up to 12x USB 2.0 ports 

• FoxOne Technology 

• GPU Model: GeForce 8500GT (256MB) 

• GPU / Memory clock: 450/800 MHZ 

• Memory size: 256MB DDRII 

• Memory Interface: 128 bit 

• DX10.0 Support 

• BUNDLE: Restore IT 7.0, 

VirtualDrivePro 10.0 

Offi cial Foxconn Distributors: 

Core2 Quad 

• GPU Model: GeForce 8600GTS (256MB) 


• Memory size: 256MB GDDRIII 


• DX10.0 Support 

• BUNDLE: Restore IT 7.0, 

VirtualDrivePro 10.0 

The overclocked version of the 

8600GTS has a core / memory clock 

at a stunning 700 / 2200. 

‘Foxconn 

Guarantee’ 

3 year warranty on 

motherboards and 

2 year warranty on 

VGA as standard 

Confi dent systems 

run with Foxconn 

A690GM2MA-8KRS2H 

AM2 

• AMD® 690G & AMD® SB 600 Chipset 

• Supports Socket AM2 for AMD® Althon 64FX, Athlon 

64x2, Athlon 64 and Sempron processors. 

• Supports AMD® Dual Core Technology 

• Supports 2000MT/s HyperTransport 

• Built-in ATI® Radeon X700 graphics 

• Graphic support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader 

Model 3.0 

• DVI and TV out port 

• Micro ATX 

• Dual channel DDR2 533/667/800 memory. 


• Serial ATAII, RAID 


• Gigabit LAN 

• 10x USB 2.0 ports 

• TigerOne Technology 

8800GTS (320MB) FV-N88SMCD2-ONOC 

• GPU Model: GeForce 8800GTS 

(320MB Overclocked) 


• Memory size: 320MB GDDRIII 


• DX10.0 Support Shader model 4.0 

• Output: Dual Link DVI, HD TV 

• Restore IT 7.0, VirtualDrivePro 10.0 

& USB Game Pad 

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Each month, industry veteran Clive Bishop will choose a topic 

taken initially from the Brigantia members forum and provide a 

considered response for PC Retail readers. 

Dear Clive 

This month: Alternative revenue streams 

DEAR CLIVE 

As a Brigantia member I was 

interested to read in last month’s 

Uncle column about alternative 

revenue streams and would ask you 

to take it a step further with some 

more illustrations of what is 

currently on offer through Brigantia? 

■ CLIVE SAYS 

There are a good many other 

alternative revenue streams 

available through Brigantia that you 

could be tapping into with little or 

no upfront outlay and would enable 

you to make more margin from 

your hard won existing customer 

base. This month I have chosen 

four, as follows: 

XOffice, Bunker Backup, E-BCM 

(from DMSL) and Messagehub all 

offer significant opportunities to 

generate additional margin from 

your existing customer base for 

little or no outlay other than your 

time in getting to know the offers 

available. Brigantia is also arranging 

a number of training seminars in 

partnership with them so as to 

make this process even easier for 

Brigantia members 

The XOffice mobile environment 

includes calendar management, 

contact management, email 

management, document 

management, project management, 

mobile mail and OTA 

synchronisation of calendar, email, 

tasks and contacts with mobile 

devices. XOffice pledge to continue 

to provide revenues, to you for the 

lifetime of your clients contract 

with XOffice. 

Bunker Backup is a professional 

online data backup service that 

employs software endorsed by 

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the top 

accountants. It keeps data 

completely secure from any privacy 

invasion, safe from any technical 

failure; it is great value for money, 

fully automated and totally 

convenient. 

New, web-based products such as XOffice offer incremental revenue streams to resellers as customers renew 

It will provide you with a 

generous recurring income in 

respect of each of your customers 

that you introduce to their service. 

Each time the client pays them, 

they will pay you; it’s that simple. 

Their standard commission rate is 

15 per cent but as a Brigantia 

member you will receive an uplift to 

20 per cent. 

E-BCM is an inspirational 

enterprise that aims to provide you 

with an easy to use, powerful and 

effective business tool to manage 

your credit risk, cash flow and debt 

recovery. Perhaps more importantly 

you are also able to resell the 

service to your business customers 

and to make significant margins. 

The E-BCM online service allows 

you to take the swift action 

necessary to check a company’s 

creditworthiness, chase late payers 

and recover your money all at low 

costs. Despite various Government 

initiatives to combat late payers, 

nothing has changed... until now, 

with the introduction of E-BCM. 

Messagehub is a solution that 

will offer you and your customers 

complete peace of mind. With 

Messagehub there are no hidden 

extras; they simply invoice you at a 

discounted cost, payable monthly 

by direct debit and you are free to 

resell the service at retail prices of 

your choice. Their highly trained 

support centre provides second line 

technical support 24x7x365. You 

will also receive on-going remote 

training, and full relationship 

support with a dedicated Brigantia 

account manager. As standard, the 

Brigantia member supplies first line 

support to their clients. 

I trust that you will find XOffice, 

Bunker Backup, E-BCM (from 

DMSL) and Messagehub useful new 

offerings and next month I will 

introduce you to four more 

opportunities to generate 

Contacts 

Brigantia Membership – Roger Humm – roger.humm@brigantia.com 

XOffice – Simon Draper - info@xoffice.net 

Bunker Backup – Vernon King - v.king@bunkerbackup.com 

E-BCM - Faye Chisnall - faye@e-bcm.co.uk 

DMSL - Nikki Kavanagh - nkavanagh@dmsluk.co.uk 

Messagehub - Nigel Redwood - nigel.redwood@e-know.net 

Clive invites opinions from PC Retail readers and will respond 

through this column. 

CONTACT CLIVE BISHOP – PC RETAIL’S OWN AGONY UNCLE 

clive.bishop@brigantia.com ■ 0845 050 4574 ■ www.brigantia.com/thecomputerexperts 


As one of the worlds biggest technology product distributors, 

Ingram Micro has to try to please all of the people all of the 

time. Scott Bicheno speaks to commercial director Bhavesh 

Patel to find out how… 

THE BIG INTERVIEW 

INGRAM MICRO 

Talking shop 

The visitors book at Ingram Micro’s UK HQ in 

Milton Keynes reads like a who’s who of the 

UK technology retail scene. Every major 

vendor and retailer appears to have paid a visit the 

morning I arrived and a cheeky flick back through 

the book reveals this is far from unusual. 

I’m invited to Ingram Towers to meet 

commercial director Bhavesh Patel. Ingram has 

been a giant of distribution for so long that, as PC 

Retail editor, I’m curious to know how it caters for 

the smaller members of the channel. 

“The market is always tough when you’ve got 

big players and retail independents trying to cohabit,” 

says Patel, “but we’ve worked hard at 

understanding that segment and with the help of 

internal CRM systems we’ve developed intimacy 

with smaller retailers and resellers.” 

I ask Patel how that intimacy has manifested 

itself. “We’re continuously creating marketing 

programmes that facilitate communication with this 

sector,” he says. “This includes a continuous 

stream of bundles and ‘deal’ type offers, which 

allow this sector to add a bit of margin to the sale 

and hopefully increase their revenues. 

“One of the ways in which Ingram can help 

retailers to ‘attach’ products – for example selling 

peripherals to a customer buying a laptop – is to 

relieve them of the burden of stocking the product. 

We do this by guaranteeing we can get it to their 

customer by the next day.” 

Another way Ingram keeps in touch with the 

independent channel is by hosting its own events. 

“We will be hosting an event aimed specifically at 

independent retailers in the second half of this year 

and will make sure PC Retail readers are aware of it 

closer to the time,” says Patel. “It will focus on 

products that we think will be close to the retailers’ 

hearts and on the kind of extra opportunities, for 

example bundles, that we can offer retailers.” 


THE BIG INTERVIEW 

INGRAM MICRO 

One of the keys to the future of 

technology retailing is to be able to 

offer solutions, like this wireless digital 

home set-up 

Patel is also keen to bring attention to Ingram 

Micro’s web strategy for indies. Specifically the 

facility it offers bricks and mortar retailers to bring 

some clicks into their business. “We have a reseller 

web-store solution, which can give resellers a full 

web presence in a relatively short space of time if 

they want it,” says Patel. “In doing so, we also offer 

accessibility to our entire portfolio of products.” 

Ingram has created a demonstration site to give an 

indication of what’s possible at 

http://fulloption.securewebstore.co.uk. 

Ingram isn’t the only distributor to be developing 

its own events programme, so I ask Patel if this 

heralds the end of traditional big shows. “I think 

the market is still crying out for events, it’s a 

question of getting the right formula together,” he 

says. “Moving forward, events that are more in line 

with what the sales channel wants, tend to be 

much more intimate in nature and allow you to 

focus on specific solution sets for those specific sales 

channels. I would say that, regardless of size, those 

are the kind of shows that would be much more 

appealing than shows with a broader remit.” 

The ‘solution rather than just product’ message 

has been shouted from the rooftops since the turn 

of the millennium and before, but clearly it still 

needs emphasising. When put on the spot and 

asked to identify a ‘solution’ that he is particularly 

keen on right now, Patel identifies storage. 

“Whichever way you look storage has become 

pretty big in everyone’s lives,” he says. “The 

members of a household all have different interests 

and thus different collections of media. You also 

need storage for backup, another thing that’s 

becoming big now, which is also a strong driver for 

external hard drive sales.” 

Probably the key storage product of the near 

future is network-attached storage (NAS). With the 

contemporary domestic model being a multi laptop 

household it stands to reason, as Patel explains. “NAS 

is where the digital home is, or soon will be at. It’s a 

fantastic example of a usage model where, in a classic 

home, three or four laptops all wirelessly linked to the 

net also need to be wirelessly linked to NAS.” 

Of course, the popularity of digital storage 

products isn’t confined to hard drives. As capacities 

grow and prices drop, devices using flash storage 

are more popular than ever. Flash is continuing to 

grow and evolve as a product category,” says Patel. 

NAS is where the 

digital home is, or 

soon will be at. It’s a 

usage model where, 

typically, three or four 

laptops all wirelessly 

linked to the net are also 

wirelessly linked 

to NAS. 

“I would say, again, that’s an area that’s fantastic for 

retail. Everyone wants one; everyone needs to do a 

bit of backup every now and then.” 

Flash has also proven to be one of the main 

drivers for convergence between the IT and 

consumer electronics (CE) worlds. Nowhere is this 

more evident than at Ingram, where the product 

portfolio has taken on a distinctly CE character. 

“Devices that use portable storage, like MP3 player 

and satnav devices, are pretty big categories for us 

and are very significant in terms of the retail 

opportunities that they bring to retail independents,” 

reveals Patel. “Outside of that we’re also doing well 

with digital and video cameras, screens and 

projectors. These more consumer electronics type 

products also provide a lot of opportunity to do 

‘attach’, which I mentioned earlier. And remember, 

the retailer doesn’t need to physically stock an item 

to be able to offer it to their customer.” 

Patel finishes by citing the example of the most 

publicised product launch of the year, which has 

brought the convergence of the IT, CE and telecoms 

markets one step further on (see if you can guess 

what he’s referring to). Specifically, involvement in 

the telco market requires familiarisation with 

commercial models you don’t really find elsewhere. 

“The recent launch of a highly publicised 

convergent mobile device shows how smaller 

retailers and resellers need to adapt themselves to 

be able to add this bit of value,” says Patel. “With 

convergent devices we’re also selling bandwidth 

time, data. Every laptop needs to be freed up and 

needs to be able to be used in an out-of-office 

context. So I cannot emphasise enough that every 

retail independent who is selling a laptop should 

always ask ‘would you like to be mobile?’” 

As you would expect, Ingram has ensured it’s in 

position to capitalise on this commercial 

opportunity. “We have the solutions to offer retailers 

in this area,” says Patel, “be it embedded SIMs – 

which a lot of new notebooks come with, so it’s just 

a matter of advising the customer about invoking 

the tariff and programmes – or by just attaching a 

PCMCIA card.” 

If you want a snapshot of where the technology 

market is headed, you could do worse than talk to a 

broad line distributor like Ingram Micro. 


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®

PRODUCT FOCUS 

INCREMENTAL SALES 

Makers 

So you’ve got your core ranges sorted out, but it’s also worth considering a selection of smaller 

products which can significantly boost revenue. Ian Osborne asks the channel for their views, 

while also highlighting some good items for retailers to consider… 

Margins are tight and competition is fierce. 

To prosper in today’s technology retail 

industry, you have to maximise your 

revenue sources. And that means paying attention 

to margin makers, those little asides away from 

your core business that can make the difference 

between profit and loss. But there’s so much to 

consider. 

PC Retail has spoken to the distribution channel 

and discussed what products are likely to prove key 

margin makers in the run-up to the winter holiday 

period. We also asked some of the industry’s key 

players to identify a specific item they think will do 

really well. So without further ado, let’s take a look 

at what they came up with… 

McAuley thinks 

the iXoft is cool 

VIP SAYS: 

THERMALTAKE IXOFT 

Margin 

Is your laptop too hot to handle? Does its 

performance suffer during continuous use 

due to cooling issues? According to 

distributor VIP, Thermaltake’s novel new 

cooling mat could well be a very profitable 

solution. 

VIP purchasing director, Duncan McAuley, 

says: “There is a big push on notebook 

coolers this year. The notebook market is 

continuing to expand at a healthy rate, 

which means resellers can capitalise on this 

growth by selling add-ons like these coolers. 

Cooling is a significant issue for laptop users 

which is often overlooked, as excess heat 

can seriously affect the performance of the 

machine. Thermaltake’s iXoft passive cooling 

mat has a revolutionary new design, 

containing a gel that absorbs the heat from 

the notebook. It’s a relatively cheap, simple 

product, but one that attracts a high margin 

at retail.” 

INTERACTIVE IDEAS SAYS: BYE BYE 

STANDBY ENERGY SAVER STARTER KIT 

By plugging a Bye Bye Standby unit into your wall socket and then 

plugging a standard electrical appliance into it, you can cut the 

power using a remote control unit. Just the thing (for example) to 

switch off the CD player when the music’s over instead of leaving it 

on standby, thereby saving both power and money. It’s available in 

UK and European versions (European model shown). 

Nia Campbell, marketing executive at Interactive Ideas, says: “As 

more people take an interest in the environment, saving energy is 

the best step forward. The Bye Bye Standby Energy Saver Starter Kit 

lets you remotely control the power of your electrical appliances 

from the comfort of your sofa.” 

TwinMOS’ Ingrid Chen 

predicts big things for 

the BooM1 

Nia Campbell 

believes concerns 

over environmental 

issues will inspire high 

sales for energysaving 

devices 

TWINMOS SAYS: BOOM1 

According to TwinMOS Technologies Inc, the BooM1 iPod-inspired 

docking and speaker accessory will be a big hit in the run-up to 

Christmas. It’s compatible with most MP3 players and mobile 

phones, and can also connect to laptops and televisions. And if it’s 

an iPod you’re using, the BooM1 recharges your audio player while 

in use. 

According to TwinMOS Territory Manager Ingrid Chen: “Our new 

BooM1 is an ideal accessory and consequently up-sell for the iPod 

or other MP3 player. We are living in an iPod world, and so any 

associated products are guaranteed to sell well. We have already 

began embarking on a UK PR campaign and are now looking for 

partners that can offer the expertise and experience to help drive 

our new products to a mass consumer audience.” 

Freecom’s 

McCarthy 

reckons 

networked 

data 

storage will 

prove an 

increasingly 

profitable 

sideline 

FREECOM SAYS: 

NETWORK DRIVE 

The 3.5-inch Network Drive, 

which can be connected to 

the home or business router so 

data can be accessed both 

on the internal network and 

from outside the network via 

the internet. The firm believes 

data storage is no longer as 

simple as connecting a HDD to 

a computer, as customers 

want data to be stored and 

accessible from one central 

secure location in their home 

or office, especially if they 

have a number of PCs or 

notebooks. 

Says Andy McCarthy, 

business development 

manager at Freecom: “Now is 

the time for retailers to further 

capitalise on the booming 

storage market, increasing 

profitability, revenue and 

awareness of the additional 

features alongside service and 

installation of the home 

networks. The new range of 

feature-rich storage devices 

allow the retailer to up-sell from 

standard hard drives to more 

profitable storage solutions, 

which everybody will have a 

need for. Between now and 

the end of the year, retailers 

should keep these products at 

the forefront of their minds and 

enhance the product offerings 

to their customers, 

demonstrating that the 

traditional High Street retailer 

can offer the next generation 

of storage peripherals.” 


PRODUCT FOCUS 


GENIUS TRAVELLER 

355 LASER MOUSE 

Just when you thought mouse 

technology couldn’t advance any 

further, along comes the Traveller 355 

Laser Mouse. Genius has replaced 

the scroll wheel in this little 

number with the ‘OptoWheel’, 

an optical sensor that the 

users strokes for easy, 

comfortable four-way 

scrolling. 

BELKIN CONCEALED 

SURGE PROTECTOR 

Surge protectors can look ugly, especially in 

the home. That’s why Belkin’s Concealed 

Surge Protector boasts features such as 

better cable management, more outlets, an 

overall unobtrusive design, a longer cord 

and more space for block-type adapters. It 

also features phone/fax and modem 

protection. Belkin offers a Connected 

Equipment Warranty of up to £175,000 that 

will insure your connected equipment 

against damage from electrical 

imbalances, while the Surge 

Protector itself carries a Lifetime 

Warranty. 

THERMALTAKE 

MEDIA LAB 

Thermaltake Media LAB VFD 

Panel turns any PC into a 

home multimedia system. It fits 

standard 5.25 drive bays and 

comes with its own remote 

control and software included. 

Available in black or silver. 

SAITEK ECLIPSE II KEYBOARD 

Everyone needs a decent keyboard, and they don’t come much better than 

this little number from Saitek. It’s a sleek, low profile USB device with underthe-keyboard 

lighting which shines through laser-etched keys – choose from 

purple, blue and red. 

WD PASSPORT PORTABLE DRIVES 

WD Passport Portable Drives have become popular worldwide for 

their plug-and-play capability, stylish, ultra-portable design and 

sleek piano-black finish, and they’re now available in capacities of 

up to 250GB. At less than five ounces, this lightweight drive fits 

neatly in a pocket or backpack and is ideal for carrying digital 

data around with you. 


FREECOM NETWORK 

MEDIAPLAYER - WLAN 

Freecom’s Network MediaPlayer 

connects to your wireless access 

point, and allows you to play back 

any multimedia content stored on 

any computer in your network, and 

also watch it on your TV. It’s also 

available without a hard drive built in, 

so you can assemble a hard drive 

yourself or use the MediaPlayer 

without one as a AV Wireless 

streaming device. 

PRODUCT FOCUS 


GUILLEMOT DJ CONSOLE MK2 

For the budding Fat Boy Slims among us, the Guillemot DJ 

Console MK2 is an all-in-one DJ Controller with audio for a 

complete computer DJ mix. It boasts two jog wheels to 

navigate within your music, speed up, slow down or even 

scratch tracks, plus a wealth of controls to keep even the 

most discerning mixer happy. 

TRUST WIRELESS 

SCROLL TABLET 

For the dedicated computer artists among us, 

there’s Trust’s wireless tablet for drawing, 

handwriting, sketching, colouring and picture 

editing. The overall package features a tablet 

with a USB cable, a wireless three-button mouse 

and a wireless three-button pen. 

SWEEX 

SPEAKER BAG 

More than a mere carrier 

for your digital music player, 

the Sweex Speaker Bag 

boasts an integrated 2.0 

speaker. It uses a 3.5mm 

plug, so it’s compatible with 

pretty much any MP3 or 

MP4 player, and also has a 

small compartment which 

can hold the audio device 

or other accessories such 

as memory cards or spare 

batteries. 

PEAK DIGITAL TV 

USB STICK 

The switchover to digital TV is 

happening, and there are an awful 

lot of systems out there with 

analogue TV tuners that will need to 

upgrade before the signal is 

switched off. The Peak Digital TV USB 

Stick lets you watch, pause and 

record all free-to-air digital channels 

on your computer. 


SECTOR GUIDE 

BROADBAND 

Experience 

The Internet 

When it comes to accessing the Internet 

there’s no doubt that broadband is what 

consumers and businesses want. It offers 

a low cost and reliable method of getting on the 

Internet without the worry of phone bills. 

As users expect ever lowering costs, how can 

ISPs compete with the likes of BT, Sky and Virgin? 

The answer lies in the user experience provided by 

the provider. 

The broadband industry is split into the large 

players who offer ‘triple play’ services such as 

television, telephone and broadband and smaller 

outfits who just specialise in Internet access. The 

triple play providers such as Virgin and Sky are in a 

constant price war amongst themselves, seemingly 

leaving little room for smaller companies to feed off 

the scraps. Not only are they hit on price but 

exposure, as many of these firms are unable to 

The industry is split 

into the large 

players who offer ‘triple 

play’ services such as 

television, telephone 

and broadband and 

smaller outfits who just 

specialise in 

Internet access. 

The ruthless broadband market 

could just be the ideal catalyst 

for retailers as smaller ISPs look 

to add value added services in 

order to compete. Lawrence 

Latif investigates… 

spend the millions required for national media 

coverage. 

However we spoke to three industry experts who 

believe that there’s a lot more to selling broadband 

than just lowering the price. Their views provide an 

interesting insight into what direction smaller 

providers can take the fight to the giants. 

The neutral 

There are a number of resources that try to 

untangle the vast web of packages, providers and 

prices that are available. One of the leading 

websites in this area is Broadbandchoices.co.uk, run 

by Michael Phillips. It affords him a unique view on 

the industry. 

Phillips’ site aims to display provider neutral 

information and, as he states, its goal is to “help 

customers make decisions based on value not just 


SECTOR GUIDE 

BROADBAND 

Eddie Chapman is the director of Upstream 

Internet, a small broadband ISP 

cost, taking into account customer service issues 

and connection reliability.” Educating users that 

cost shouldn’t be the only measure of a broadband 

provider is vital to the industry. 

Interestingly, Phillips believes that one-stop 

providers such as Virgin have led to complication 

rather than simplification for customers. He reports 

that Broadbandchoices.co.uk has received 

complaints from customers who say their “services 

have been compromised with long waiting times 

and poor connections”. 

A quick look at 

the market tells 

you that VoIP is already 

seen as a critical part of 

ISP's armoury to capture 

and retain customers. 

We believe 21CN will 

become a 

catalyst. 

There’s also evidence that you don’t have to be a 

big national company to compete in this industry 

according to Phillips. 

“Customer service and a specialised service play 

very important roles. Because smaller companies 

can’t compete against the advertising budgets of 

larger ISPs, they focus their costs on providing a 

reliable, easy-to-use service.” 

Customer service isn’t the only enabler according 

to Phillips. Reselling their services in white-label 

form has also proved successful. “Eclipse has a wide 

re-seller network, which includes smaller ISPs, such 

as Direct Save Telecom. While Madasafish has 

provided ‘white label’ plug-in solutions for well 

known brands like Waitrose.” 

This opens the door for retailers not only to 

Michael Philips runs broadband comparison 

website Broadbandchoices.co.uk 

become ISPs but work closer with ISPs to offer their 

subscribers incentives to purchase their products. In 

recent years, BT purchased Dabs Direct with 

increasing BT branding now appearing on Dabs’ 

website and almost complete integration within 

BT's own shopping Website. 

The cable guy 

Entanet is part of the wide reaching Enta Group, 

which operates as a distributor and Internet service 

provider. Entanet’s products are pitched to 

businesses and ISPs rather than end-users. 

Typically, a small ISP would use Entanet as its 

service provider, known as a transit provider. 

However because of Entanet’s wide reaching 

telecoms and distribution networks according to 

Darren Farnden, marketing manager, Entanet 

International provides much more than low level 

Internet access. 

Echoing Phillips’ sentiments, Farnden believes 

that customer service is the key for ISPs. Farnden 

claims that the big ISPs “typically compete on price 

but they have been criticised for neglecting to serve 

their customers,” and points to feedback left by 

users on public forums. 

Smaller ISPs on the other hand 

according to Farnden “value their 

customer relationships better 

and so concentrate on 

delivering that 

quality”. As a 

‘level 2’ 

Darren Farnden is marketing manager for B2B ISP 

Entanet, part of Enta group 

provider, Entanet provides the tools for ISPs to resell 

services. This can range from standard Internet 

access towards Voice-over-IP and it is these VoIP 

services which Farnden believes will be a key 

battleground for smaller ISPs. 

Farnden goes a step further and says that he 

thinks the battle is already raging “a quick look at 

the market tells you that VoIP is already seen as a 

critical part of an ISP's armoury to capture and 

retain customers.” Farnden continues: “We believe 

21CN will become a catalyst for IP-based 

communication” referring to the next generation 

network currently being built by BT. 

Entanet, however, isn’t finished with VoIP just 

yet, providing its resellers with tools allowing them 

to offer white-label VoIP services to customers. As 

consumers and businesses are consolidating costs, 

VoIP is seemingly the perfect technology, allowing 

users to merge call costs and line rental into their 

monthly broadband bill. 

Farden explains the features Entanet have 

created for their resellers “Our in-house team of 


programmers developed the Entanet Partner Site, an 

incredibly informative and functionally rich online 

portal that enables them to place and track orders, 

view reports, monitor usage, view commission 

information and more.” Farnden continues, citing 

Entanet’s ability to set up white-label services for 

retailers and resellers. 

For retailers, Entanet may just be the one stop 

shop they’ve been looking for. As part of the Enta 

Group, Entanet has access to a well configured 

distribution channel meaning retailers can not only 

strengthen their distributor ties but dip their toes 

into the ISP business. 

The provider 

Eddie Chapman is the director of Upstream 

Internet, a small broadband ISP which slugs it out 

against the established providers such as Demon 

Internet, Claranet and Nildram. On the face of it, 

Chapman is fighting a seemingly impossible battle 

but this network guru realises that you needn’t fight 

fire with fire. 

Chapman’s company specialises in providing 

‘Bonded ADSL’. Through the use of software 

developed by Chapman himself, you can combine 

two or more ADSL connections to get increased 

speeds. Chapman sees this as Upstream’s edge 

over its competitors and says that his company “Is 

The broadband 

market is like the 

rest of the technology 

market; as long as ‘free’ 

ISPs continue to cut 

corners with service 

there will be demand for 

something 

better. 

the only provider which specialises in Bonded 

DSL, we optimise and design everything at our 

end around this.” 

Surprisingly when asked if big providers such as 

BT or Sky are bad for the industry, Chapman was 

philosophical. “I wouldn’t say they are bad for the 

industry. They target the mass market but there will 

always be people who look for an alternative to the 

mass produced product.” 

Chapman too believes that service and not price 

is the key to surviving in this industry. “People 

usually start out shopping around on price, and 

eventually after they have been burnt a few times 

they start looking for better service”. Clearly using 

sites like Broadbandchoices.co.uk will enable 

customers not to get their fingers burnt. 

While Upstream Internet is a growing business, 

Chapman realises that at one point his company 

will need to consider adding features to the 

service”it offers. "We have managed to work out a 

way to actually make money with broadband alone. 

However the profits aren't huge, and I'm sure if we 

want to improve our bottom line value added 

services will play a more important role in the 

future.” 

There's no doubt that the broadband market is a 

fiercely competitive industry. The weapon of choice 

is price cutting but as users realise that you get 

what you pay for, their attention will sway towards 

features, customer service and reliability. 

SECTOR GUIDE 

BROADBAND 

THE TRUTH ABOUT VOIP 

Over the past two years, voice over IP or VoIP has 

become the killer application for broadband in 

business. Much like email revolutionising post for 

business correspondence, VoIP affords companies 

who already have broadband Internet access, the 

ability to absorb the cost of making calls. 

Generally VoIP is split into two main services. 

Free services such as Skype allow you to call other 

users using your computer are extremely popular. 

However, for business use commercial services are 

available. 

These services typically offer a service level 

agreement (SLA) so businesses can truly replace 

their landline without reliability worries. Providers 

such as Entanet wholesale commercial services to 

smaller ISPs who can then tailor the product for 

their specific demographic. 

For the channel VoIP means sales of ‘soft’ 

phones; ones that connect to the PC, ‘hard’ 

phones which operate independently of a 

computer and supporting software. 

Complex VoIP PBX systems are also gaining 

traction in the commercial world and retailers 

should take note of this growing sector as 

companies are replacing their old phone banks 

with a single computer. 

VoIP is revolutionising the way computers are 

used for real-time communications. As users exploit 

the advantages of this technology, it’s important 

that the channel does too. 

The broadband market is no different from the 

rest of the technology market in this respect and as 

long as ‘free’ ISPs continue to cut corners with 

service there will be demand for something better. 

Retailers should see broadband providers as an 

introduction service for their brand. With 

companies such as Entanet allowing retailers to 

become ISPs themselves and make use of their 

extensive distribution capabilities, there’s little 

excuse for retailers not to explore this opportunity 

for growth. 


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Formed in 1977, Logic 3 recently celebrated its 

30th birthday, and throughout those years, it 

has remained at the forefront of innovation in 

every industry it has entered. 

In 1983 it entered the video games industry as 

one of the first third party peripheral manufacturers 

and within a decade was revolutionising the way 

people interacted with games. 

Even 25 years after its founding, it was still at the 

forefront of innovation, albeit this time in the iPodaudio 

accessories market. And it is that spirit of 

innovation that it sees as the most important thing 

to keep going as PC Retail finds out when we 

travelled to Logic 3’s new purpose-built 

headquarters in Watford to speak to managing 

director Ashvin Patel. 

“In a way I was very surprised that there weren’t 

many people in the running to make sound 

accessories for the iPod,” explains Patel when asked 

about the company’s success in that area. “It was 

astonishing given the success of the iPod in 

VENDOR PROFILE 

LOGIC 3 

The sound of 

innovation 

A successful line of iPod and video game accessories aren’t the only thing Logic 3 has made 

recently. It hasn’t long moved into new purpose-built premises and it invited Ben Furfie to visit and 

told him about its recipe for success... 

America at that time, that nobody was doing 

anything in that space. 

“There were a lot of accessories being sold, but 

they tended to be cases – soft cases, leather cases, 

etc. There was also a huge market for replacement 

earphones. But nobody had gone about the process 

of making a set of speakers – and speakers were 

what people were crying out for. 

“We have a lot of history dealing with audio from 

our speaker products for consoles,” explains Patel. 

“We’re one of the first companies to produce 

speakers that sat on the side of PC monitors back in 

the mid-nineties. Add to that our subsequent 

success with the likes of the SoundStation, which 

came out for both the PlayStation 2 and Gamecube, 

and we you can see the position we found 

ourselves in.” 

“We had all this knowledge and were presented 

with an opportunity to capitalise on it... the result 

was the iStation,” adds Patel. “We thought, we 

have a strength in the speakers; we might as well 


VENDOR PROFILE 

LOGIC 3 

Patel believes that the iStation 

was way ahead of its competitors 

- indeed it dominated the 

hardware charts after its arrival 

use that to make a set of speakers for the iPod. 

We were a year ahead of our competitors. 

“The first designs for our iPod accessories 

began arriving at the end of 2003 – by then there 

were two million iPods sold and people were 

screaming for accessories but the nearest thing 

that people could get their hands on were the FM 

transmitters, which were of course illegal here in 

the UK at the time.” 

The success of the iStation was demonstrated 

by the hardware’s dominance of the charts. But as 

Patel explains, the one thing Logic 3 doesn’t do is 

become complacent with its position in the 

market. “We enter a market, innovate then leave 

when bigger players come in – you can’t compete 

with them so there is no point in trying. 

“The competition comes from both hands. You 

get the cheaper end, Chinese manufacturers 

mainly. They start looking and copying your 

product at which point it becomes uneconomical 

to try and continue competing with them. 

“On the other hand, you have the big names 

that tend to be the major players in the 

accessories market. They’ll come in and make 

their own versions of the product,” he says. “Add 

to that they have bigger marketing budgets and it 

becomes useless to carry on fighting them. That’s 

when its time to move on to the next thing… 

that’s the philosophy of this company.” 

Indeed, while the very essence of the 

electronics entertainment industry is by necessity 

fast moving and often volatile, much of Logic3’s 

success has been its ability to monitor, anticipate 

and react quickly to changing patterns in 

consumer demand and product development. 

“We’ve got control of our overheads so we can 

have a bad period for a year or two and we can 

still carry on and come up with some new,” Patel 

continues. “Hence, because of the success with 

We enter a 

market, innovate, 

then leave when the 

bigger players come in. 

There’s no point in trying 

to compete with them. 

Ashvin Patel 

(above) 

the speaker side of business, we’ve 

been able to carry on with the Playstation, 

Gamecube, and Xbox stuff as well as prepare for 

the next generation with few problems.” 

Despite that, Patel wasn’t positive about the 

state of the video games industry as a whole. 

“The iStation has become a vital part of the 

business – partly because the gaming side of the 

business has come under an awful lot of pressure. 

There have been quite a few companies that have 

gone under in the past few years. 

“The problems aren’t related to distribution or 

one retailer. It’s something that is affecting the 

High Street as a whole, not just gaming or 

technology. It’s just symptomatic of the problems 

faced by retail in general,” he explains. 

“The big problem is that as the High Street 

struggles, a lot of the bigger retailers are asking 

for longer payment periods. Whereas major 

retailers may have in the past have had a 12-week 

account with us and other distributors for 

example, they are now asking for periods of up to 

six months. It’s really putting everyone’s bank 

balances under tremendous stress and inevitably 

some people aren’t going to be able to cope and 

will go out of business. 

“We’re lucky though because Logic 3 as a 

company has been extremely good at balancing 

the books. In fact, our year-on-year growth 

culminated in a record-breaking year in 2005 

thanks to an aggressive growth strategy started 

five or so before that. 

“Today the same strategy is in place, even in 

this increasing difficult trading environment. It’s 

helping to ensure that we keep our place as one 

of the world’s most successful portable audio and 

video game distribution companies.” 

One of Logic 3’s upcoming products that Patel 

is extremely excited about is an iPod speaker 

called the Jivebox. “It’s totally innovative and 

totally new technology. Nobody else has this 

technology in a product. It’s that good we believe 

it has the ability to redefine speakers.” 

At the time of writing, specific details were not 

available, but rest assured it will be featured in 

the September issue. 


The world's most intelligent 

business card scanner 

Widget UK Ltd is a specialist distributor of 

mobile computing equipment. 

We distribute a tightly focussed range 

of PDA, satellite navigation and mobile 

scanning products to UK channel partners. 

For more details of CardScan or any of our 

other products please call Kate or Phil on 

0870 755 3300. 

Innovation Design Style 

www.widget.com 

As reviewed by PCMAG.com 

From business card 

to business contact 

CardScan turns piles of business 

cards into organised contact 

lists at the drop of a hat. 

Offering synchronisation 

with market leading contact 

managers including Outlook, 

ACT! and Goldmine 

CardScan puts your information 

right where you need it with an 

outstanding level of accuracy 

that requires no retyping of 

information. Just feed the cards 

through the scanner and let 

CardScan do the rest. 

• Exports to iPod 

• Automatically removes duplicates 

• Updates contacts from new cards 

• Backup your contacts online 

• Easy labels with DYMO LabelWriter 

• Under 5 seconds from card to PC 

“CardScan, the program, is among the best available for 

reading business cards of any random design, recognising 

the text with OCR, and parsing it correctly to put the right 

pieces of information in the right fields. ” 

"CardScan......has a well-earned reputation for its highquality 

business-card scanners and software" 

Widget also work with technology partners across three core areas: 

PDA & iPod Accessories | GPS | Ultra-SubNotebooks

Interacive 

whiteboards have 

revolutionized the 

way computers are 

used in the classrom 

Top 

Marks 

Educational institutions provide an interesting 

mix of high volume sales and specialist 

purchases. This mix can be very rewarding for 

the channel as a whole. 

Whether it be schools, colleges or universities, the 

IT budget afforded to these institutions makes the 

channel stand up and take note. A number of 

manufacturers specialise in the education sector and, 

thanks to robust distribution and reseller relationships, 

manage to get themselves heard. 

Being a supplier of an educational institution means 

often being a member of an elite club. Most large 

institutions have a select number of suppliers who 

have met certain criteria. Therefore most retailers 

should see any account in the education sector as a 

valuable win, one that ensures long term business. So 

when new products enter the channel it’s important 

that it gets noticed by the right people. 

Promethean, a UK company which specialises in 

HOT TOPIC 

EDUCATION MARKET 

interactive whiteboards are an example of a company 

which relies heavily on the educational sector. In 

recent years, interactive whiteboards have become a 

Educational clients 

first and foremost 

require value for money, 

however this doesn't mean 

cheaply made 

products. 

staple of classrooms due to their innovative way of 

embracing computers and the human hand. 

The system can be used not to write words onto 

the screen but operate programs. The true hands-on 

The education sector offers high 

rewards for the channel. But, as 

Lawrence Latif reveals, it's important 

to have done your homework before 

entering the classrom... 

feel it provides is a much better learning experience 

for children and adults. Paul Berry, director of UK 

business, Promethean confirms that the majority of 

their sales is in the education sector. 

Monarch is another example of a education 

orientated business, providing institutions with 

bespoke solutions to meet their seating and storage 

needs. Monarch’s units are geared towards classrooms 

but not isolating the commercial sector, they stock 

and build units for businesses too. Having been in 

business for 25 years, it’s clear that Monarch are 

hitting the sweetspot. 

Look and listen 

While education institutions are gaining autonomy in 

spending, they remain conservative buyers, choosing 

mature technology which eases integration and 

reliability worries, a view confirmed by Berry. It's 


HOT TOPIC 

EDUCATION MARKET 

Cary Gibbs, Business Development 

Manager for Education Computers 

Unlimited 

important to remember that even small schools have 

over 200 pupils and one of the biggest worries for any 

support department is fragile products which can't 

stand up to the harsh, abusive school environment. 

In universities the problem is exaggerated by the 

huge number of pupils. For institutions pricing may 

not be the primary differentiator as Marvin Douglas, 

IT furniture sales manager at Monarch explains: 

“Many educational clients will continue to purchase 

even if many others in the market confess to offering 

vastly reduced pricing.” 

As the education sector doesn’t have access to a 

bottomless pit of money, purchasers are looking for 

value for money. As Douglas explains, that doesn't 

mean cheap products. “Educational clients first and 

foremost require value for money. However this 

doesn’t mean cheaply made products as they don’t 

have time to deal with product issues when teaching 

demands are tasking up so much of their time.” 

Channel members need to understand the 

institutions take a long term view on purchases and 

the relationships associated with that purchase. So 

instead of getting a product out to market first, more 

attention should be placed on getting a good product 

out to market. Berry outlines how Promethean makes 

sure their products are ready for their users. 

“Significant test programs are carried out pre-release 

on all products including software.” 

Daryl Clarke, managing director at Matrix Display 

Systems iterates this view: “Matrix leads the way 

with new cutting edge products but only once they 

have been tried and tested. We deal only with 

established reputable companies and ensure the 

service and warranty offerings provide the right level 

of response and cover.” 

Getting your channel right can reap rewards but 

unlike consumer markets, news about products is 

Marvin Douglas, IT Furniture Sales 

Manager Monarch 

Paul Berr, Director of UK Business 

Promethean 

often spread through unconventional means, as Berry 

explains. “In the education sector information spreads 

quicker through word of mouth – good and bad – 

because teachers are more of a community and tend 

to use forums and blogs. Teachers will also readily 

contribute ideas to improve products whereas the 

commercial market expect us to lead product 

development more.” 

Channel therapy 

Distributors play a vital role in helping resellers cater 

for education. Cary Gibbs, business development 

manager for education at Computers Unlimited 

explains how they help resellers: “We sell discounted 

software for education which allows the end user to 

validate their educational status themselves through 

our Online Validation Programme. 

“This massively helps retailers sell software into the 

education market as they do not need to carry out 

pre-sales validation.” Gibbs says that currently Adobe 

and Quark are partners in this programme. Such 

programmes offer excellent hooks for manufacturers 

and retailers to build relationships with new 

customers. 

Every market sector has unique needs and Clarke 

explains the lengths Matrix goes to attract business 

from all of them. “Matrix has a dedicated sales team 

for each specific market area, our service team cover 

all sectors but have different response levels and SLA 

agreements depending on the requirements of the 

market sector.” 

This understanding that there is no single solution 

to every market sector is key in building relationships 

with institutions. This is good news for smaller 

resellers who rely on local reputation. 

Daryl Clarke, Managing Director 

Matrix Distribution 

Report card 

The key to the education sector is reputation. 

Educational institutions are in the business of learning 

and not repairing equipment. Schools typically provide 

some of the harshest environments computer 

products operate in and therefore purchase decisions 

are based on past performance of suppliers and 

manufacturers. 

There are few sectors where the bond between 

manufacturer, distributor and reseller are tested more 

rigorously. Education establishments expect a lot from 

the channel and quite rightly so as the rewards for all 

are high. Configuring your channel for education is a 

combination of listening to users and providing a high 

quality service. It’s as easy as A-B-C. 

There are few 

sectors where the 

bond between 

manufacturer, distributor 

and reseller are tested 

more rigorously. 

Education establishments 

expect a lot from the 

channel and 

quite rightly so.

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Range 

Top of the 

Sometimes, only the best is good enough. The 

hardcore PC user, who likes to keep his 

computer at the white-hot cutting edge of 

technology, needs the best components money can 

buy. The fastest processor, the most capable graphics 

card, the most powerful PSU – nothing but the 

best. But who are these power users, and what are 

they currently buying? According to the channel, 

interest in top end kit goes beyond power gamers. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, demands made by 

Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system 

has inspired many PC users to upgrade their 

graphics cards. According to Scott Pendrey, product 

manager for Intel's consumer desktop components: 

“Graphics cards are currently the most popular 

component to upgrade. The benefits of DirectX 10 

for gamers will see this further increase. However, 

for high-end systems, a new graphics card probably 

also means a new PSU, as they draw a lot of power 

these days.” 

The popularity of 

the likes of 

YouTube means there are 

more people generating 

their own media. These 

things require high 

performance systems. 

Richard Baker, 

AMD 

Richard Baker, European channel marketing 

manager at AMD, agrees: “At the moment the most 

popular upgrade is graphics, mainly because Vista 

requires 3D graphics for the Aero GUI. 

SECTOR GUIDE 

TOP END KIT 

Interest in high performance PC 

kit now goes beyond the realms 

of just PC gamers. As more 

people start creating their own 

media, the sector is readying 

itself for a boom. Ian Osborne 

finds out more… 

“The second most popular is memory, mainly 

because it makes multitasking faster and it is 

physically easy to do, followed by extra HD storage 

because of media storage.” 

YOYOTech founder and owner Charanjit Kholi, 

known in the industry as ‘CK’, reckons the move to 

DirectX 10 will increase the demand for graphics 

cards still further. “While Vista itself may be the 

‘second coming of Windows Me’, he says, “it’s a 

fact that DX10 games will not play on DX9 

hardware, unless Bill Gates pulls a serious U-turn. 

As it stands, without a brand new DX10 graphic 

card, you won’t truly be able to play Crysis, Alan 

Wake, Hellgate London, Bioshock, StarCraft 2 or 

Unreal Tournament 3.” 

VIP purchasing director, Duncan McAuley, sees 

this as an ongoing situation. 

“Graphics cards and high end memory look likely 

to be two of the biggest sellers of the year,” he 

explains to PC Retail. 


SECTOR GUIDE 

TOP END KIT 

“Vista has high memory requirements, so I’d 

expect sales of memory to increase as the year 

goes on when more people adopt this new OS. 

Also, as more DirectX 10 games come onto the 

market, sales of compatible graphics cards and 

memory will grow, especially near Christmas and 

the New Year.” 

AMD’s European development relations 

manager, Richard Huddy has his eye on several 

games which are likely to inspire high-end PC 

users to invest in new kit. 

“There are quite a few DirectX10 games coming 

this year which will give gamers a good reason to 

upgrade to the HD2000 series,” he says. 

“Techland’s Call of Juarez was a very popular 

DirectX 9 game, and it looks even better in DirectX 

10. To come, top of my list are Crysis from Crytek 

and Hellgate London from Flagship. In the more 

casual gaming arena we can expect Microsoft’s 

Flight Simulator X to be upgraded to DirectX too.” 

But who buys top-of-the-range PC 

components? Is it just the gamers, or are there 

other categories of users who like to keep their 

computers at the cutting edge? 

Says Intel’s Pendry: “Our top of the range CPUs 

are aimed at two main user categories; gamers 

and enthusiasts. Gamers are those who play 

competitively, or play for extended periods of time 

with little focus on other activities. Enthusiasts 

actually form a bigger market. They play games 

occasionally, but also spend time working with 

multimedia, high resolution photography, audio 

manipulation and more. The benefits of Intel’s 

multi-core CPUs are extraordinary when 

processing this kind of information.” 

YOYOTech’s CK agrees: “While the majority of 

high-end systems are sold to gamers, we also sell a 

significant volume of multi-core/multi-processor 

systems to graphic artists, music enthusiasts and 

Voice of the Channel… 

The following key players in the IT industry had 

lots to say about high-end components… 

• Scott Pendrey, Product 

Manager for Intel’s 

consumer desktop 

components. 

• Richard Baker, European 

Channel Marketing 

Manager, AMD. 

• Duncan McAuley, 

Purchasing Director, VIP. 

• Charanjit ‘CK’ Kholi, Owner 

of enthusiast's High Street 

store, YOYOTech. 

• Richard Huddy, European 

Development Relations 

Manager, AMD. 

video editors. The latest four-core Kentsfield 

processor from Intel costs a little over £250, and 

that’s very attractive for anyone looking to run the 

latest versions of Adobe’s creative software.” As 

AMD’s Baker puts it: “Certainly gamers buy highend, 

but there’s also a section of people who use 

high-end PCs for heavy-duty multitasking. The 

popularity of YouTube and the like have increased 

the number of people who generate their own 

media, be it more sophisticated home movies, 

music videos or home ‘music studios’. These sorts 

of things require high performance systems.” 

So what’s the most expensive, money-no-object 

component or PC our panel sells or distributes? 

Intel’s Pendrey says: “Our top performing desktop 

CPU, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad core 

processor QX6800. However, time doesn’t stand 

still, and it won’t be long before something better 

comes along to extend our technology leadership.” 

Adds VIP’s McAuley: “One of our highest end 

cases, the Thermaltake Mozart TX case with 

seven-inch media screen, retails for around £260. 

Add to that the cost of the highest spec graphics 

cards, CPUs, optical drives, etc and you’re looking 

at two or three thousand pounds at least.” 

“Building dream PCs is what YOYOTech is all 

about,” says CK, “and, right now, CoolerMaster's 

Stacker chassis as the 830 is probably most 

popular enthusiast case in the world. 

“We also stock the Smooth Creations-modded 

version that costs around $1,000. Stick in one of 

CoolerMaster’s brand new RealPower M1000 

modular 1kw power supplies and an Eclipse CPU 

cooler on top of Intel’s top end multi-core 

processor sitting in an ABit enthusiast 

mainboard, and you have the basis for a machine 

that’s attractive to enthusiasts and generates a 

sensible profit.” 

We’ll take two, please… 


SECTOR GUIDE 

TOP END KIT 

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS 

UNLEASH 

the Power of 

DirectX ® 10 

Gaming with 

XpertVision! 

Sales: 08701 648 501 

INTEL CORE 2 EXTREME PROCESSOR 

They don’t call it the world’s best gaming processor 

for nothing. Intel’s top CPU offers energy-efficient 

gaming performance for a high-definition 

multimedia experience. Plus, with up to 4MB of L2 

cache and up to 1066 MHz front-side bus, it’s 

extremely fast in all departments. 

REAL POWER M1000 MODULAR 

Ultra-high end graphics cards demand a decent 

power supply, and Cooler Master’s Real Power 

M1000 Modular PSU is one of the best. It’s an 

extremely reliable power source to back up elite 

technology. Real Power M boasts six groundbreaking 

+12V independent output rails for exceptional power 

distribution, and is specially designed for Nvidia’s 

next generation High End Graphic Cards. 

ATHLON 64 X2 6000+ 

AMD’s Athlon Dual-Core processors contain two 

processing cores residing on one chip, performing 

calculations on two streams of data to increase 

efficiency and speed, while running multiple 

programs and the new generation of multithreaded 

software. For end-users, this means a 

significant increase in response and performance 

when running multiple applications simultaneously. 

ASUS STRIKER EXTREME 

Asus describes its Striker Extreme as ‘the ultimate 

gaming motherboard’. Striker Extreme provides a 

detailed BIOS option for enthusiast tweaking, eightphase 

capless power to ensure the SLI performance 

reliability and the unique gaming features such as 

LCD poster, EL I/O, Onboard LED, Onboard button 

and more. 

LOGITECH DINOVO EDGE KEYBOARD 

The ultra-slim Logitech diNovo Edge delivers 

excellent feel and response. It boasts a revolutionary 

TouchDisc with hyper-speed scrolling and pixelperfect 

control, which Logitech claims makes 

trackpads obsolete. A slim recharging base doubles 

as a keyboard stand. Work longer thanks to the 

longer-lasting Li-Ion batteries, and more securely via 

Bluetooth wireless technology. 

CORSAIR XMS PRO DDR2 

On-board memory isn’t the sexiest part of a PC, but 

you won’t get far without it. Corsair’s XMS Pro DDR2 

includes the high-efficiency aluminium XMS heatsink, 

and 24 activity LEDs that show the level of memory 

activity on each bank. 

XpertVision ATI Radeon TM HD 

2400PRO Sonic 

• 256MB DDR2 memory 

• Full Windows Vista ® & DirectX 

10 support 

• CrossFireTM ready 

£23.42 


ATI RADEON HD 2000 SERIES 

Delivering amazing effects and immersive realism in 

DirectX 10 games, ATi’s Radeon HD 2000 Series is 

Superior Certified for Windows Vista graphics 

performance. ATi Avivo HD technology makes for 

smooth video playback of HD DVD and Blu-ray 

content, and for the really hardcore, it supports 

CrossFire performance scaling. 

CM STACKER 830 

The Stacker 830 has proven to be the leader among 

all chassis, with its streamlined aluminium design, 

extremely powerful functionality and brilliant 

modularised mechanism to support both ATX/BTX 

form factors. According to Cooler Master, it’s 

‘designed with value-added functionality, 

unmatched upgradeability, tool-free user friendliness 

and superior thermal management’. 

GEFORCE 8800 GTX 

Selected as one of the Best Products of the Year in 

the July 2007 issue of US magazine PC World, the 

Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX offers excellent 

performance, unparalleled levels of graphics realism 

and effects, plus full support for the latest DirectX 10 

and DirectX 9 games. 

SWIFTECH H20 APEX ULTRA+ WATER 

COOLING SYSTEM 

With all that power and performance, your PC 

might struggle to keep its cool. That’s where a topof-the-range 

water-cooling system comes in handy. 

The Apex Ultra+ is a complete system cooling 

solution, including CPU, GPU and Chipset waterblocks. 

LOGITECH MX REVOLUTION MOUSE 

Take command with powerful new controls that let 

you fly through large documents at hyper-speed, or 

navigate lists, slides and image collections with clickto-click 

precision. Toggle effortlessly between open 

applications. Perform instant web searches with the 

click of a button. 

LOGITECH Z-5500 THX 

Upset the neighbours with this high-end surround 

sound system. It’s a 5.1 speaker system with four 

satellite speakers, centre speaker, subwoofer and a 

Digital SoundTouch control centre. 

XpertVision ATI Radeon TM 

HD 2600PRO Sonic 

• 512MB GDDR3 memory 

• Full Windows Vista ® & 

DirectX 10 support 

• CrossFireTM & HDMITM support 

£40.99 

VIP Order Code: 134755

Web: www.tc24.co.uk Phone: 0870 787 1999 Fax 0870 220 2840 E-Mail: sales@targetcomponents.co.uk 

Please Note: VAT charges apply at 17.5%. Prices and/or specifications may change without notice. Prices are correct at time of going to print E.&.OE

Monarch Pro 

The world’s leading Report Mining software extracts 

and filters data from existing reports (including ERP 

systems, databases, PDFs, HTML and more) for easy 

analysis and export. 

Unlike other data access solutions, Monarch requires 

no programming skills and no need for IT help. 

Already used by over 400,000 decision makers in 

20,000 organisations around the world, Monarch offers 

huge licensing opportunities to resellers. 

available from 

£50.00 

OFF 

per user licence 

purchased in July! 

Call 01962 835041 

August Madness! 

Great deals on market-leading 

products 

MindGenius 

A unique resource for promoting effective 

completion of tasks and projects, which offers 

great opportunities for resellers targeting 

businesses and education. 

Companies of all sizes use it for brainstorming, 

SWOT analysis, project ownership, 

time management, mind mapping, problem 

solving, reports, presentations, to-do-lists 

and more. 

Business 

£30.00 OFF 

Education 

£20.00 OFF 

per user licence purchased 

in July! 

Schools and colleges use it for exam 

preparation, summarising books and 

reports, organising study notes, 

Avanquest Software 

presentations and more. 

The Software Centre 

Lee Mill, Ivybridge 

Devon PL21 9GE 

www.avanquest-licensing.co.uk 

email: licensing@avanquest.co.uk

In today’s high-speed, fast and furious world, time 

is an essential factor. Modern habit has left books 

to gather dust, while the Internet provides a large 

portion of our reference material and not only that, it 

doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket either. But, where 

do you turn in the circumstances beyond the 

internet’s capabilities? 

The reference software market isn’t a sector you 

would expect to be alive with activity, given sites 

such as Wikipedia that can tell you 

virtually anything about virtually 

anything. There are however 

several life occurrences that this 

sector cashes in on, things everyone 

has to go through at some point, for 

example driving tests. 

Driving test software is the 

dominant force in this market, 

occupying the top six spots of the reference software 

charts. Consumers of these, often essential, products 

are given little alternative unless the stroppy teenager 

wants to read a book. Interactive material 

unsurprisingly is top choice and whether Myspace is 

minimised in the taskbar or not, at least some 

revision gets done. When asked why the driving test 

products sell so well, Rachel Boon, TSO marketing 

executive tells PC Retail: “DSA titles are 

authoritative, from the people who set the driving 

SECTOR GUIDE 

REFERENCE SOFTWARE 

Sales drivers 

Search engines and user-generated material websites have fast made books an archaic 

reference tool. Mark Sutton looks at why the internet shouldn’t always be trusted and why 

reference software has become the 21st century book... 

and riding tests and are the only official titles on the 

market. People are reassured by the knowledge that 

they are referring to expert knowledge.” 

“The introduction of broadband has seen a change 

in customer buying habits and we have online 

versions to cover many topics now,” says Lotta 

Farley, director of consumer markets at 

Encyclopaedia Britannica about the reference market. 

“However, there is still a need for software products, 

The introduction of broadband has seen 

a change in customer buying habits and 

we have online versions to cover many 

topics now. 

especially in underdeveloped markets where 

broadband is not readily available.” 

Admittedly, the internet is leaps and bounds ahead 

when it comes to sourcing material. However, this is 

likely down to laziness and the unwillingness to fork 

out the hard-earned. Those looking for reference 

material must remember that the Internet is justifiably 

regarded as the least accurate form of quick 

information. Contribution sites can store all kinds of 

distorted information, which ends up in print and thus 

impatient consumers are fooled into believing 

inaccurate statements and information as soon as a 

search engine finds a relevant article. Software on the 

other hand is only published when thoroughly accurate. 

Reference software has a long shelf life as it 

generally doesn’t change too much and additionally 

has the benefit of selling consistently all year round. 

So retailers can bet on shifting units gradually, as 

opposed to having to put last minute deals on 

expiring stock. Due to the products’ 

consistent if not growing market 

share, reference software can be 

banked on as a lucrative source of 

revenue for retailers. 

Also popular in the reference 

market, are family tree builders and 

design programs, which can be 

used to calculate the expense of 

projects from the comfort of home – eliminating the 

cost of hiring a professional who would most likely 

use the same program to draw up ideas and a quote. 

Most popular reference software products have 

one thing in common: they provide a depth of 

information that, even if you could find it, would 

take some time to get from the web. There will 

always be consumers willing to pay for accuracy and 

depth; the trick for retailers is to identify them and 

sell them what they want. 


SECTOR GUIDE 

REFERENCE SOFTWARE 

GSP All in One 

Driving Test 

Price: £9.99 

GSP: 01480 496666 

GSP’s All in One Driving Test DVD-ROM covers all 

three tests set by the Driving Standards Agency. 

The entire DSA Test bank of questions is included 

on the disc including interactive tutorials. 

GSP so strongly believe in its product it is offering 

to give £50 worth of GSP software to any 

product purchaser who fails their theory test 

exam, subject to terms and conditions. 

GSP Growing Plants 

Interactive Encyclopaedia 

Deluxe Edition 

Price: £29.99 

GSP: 01480 496666 

Growing Plants Interactive Encyclopedia 3 

Deluxe is a new reference tool on PC- DVD for 

anyone wanting to increase their plant 

knowledge. Growing Plants Interactive 

Encyclopedia includes a huge amount of 

detailed information on flowers & ornamentals, 

trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, aquatics, 

vegetables, fruits, ferns, wild flowers, orchids, 

palms, cacti, mosses, hedging and house plants 

with over 20,000 plants & 15,000 stunning 

images. 

Driving test Success 

All Tests 

Price: £9.99 

Focus: 01889 570156 

Driving Test Success has been at the top of the 

driving test software market since its launch in 

1997. The new 2007/08 Edition comes with 

official DSA theory test questions and ten official 

DSA Hazard Perception sample clips to ease 

prospective drivers into the test scenario. 

Also on the disc is a practical test revision aid 

with over 60 video lessons, including the ‘show 

me, tell me’ questions and a mock driving test. 

Multimedia Britannica 

Ultimate DVD 2008 

Price: £39.99 

Focus Multimedia: 01889 570156 

The 2008 Britannica Ultimate DVD is a research 

tool that is suitable for the whole family. Over 

100,000 articles are available on one DVD-ROM. 

The disc is designed to cater for all levels of 

education, in all languages and in all formats. 

The title will be released on September 1st 2007. 

TSO, DSA Theory 

Test Kit 

Price: £8.99 

TSO: 0870 600 5522 

TSO’s Driving Theory Test offering comes fully 

compliant with the current DSA bank of test 

questions. The CD-ROM contains explanations to 

each answer, so learners can understand why 

each choice is right or wrong. The theory test 

screens on the disc look virtually identical to 

those on the theory test itself, settling learners 

into realistic test scenarios. 

GSP Who Do You 

Think You Are? 

Price: £39.99 

GSP: 01480 496666 

Who Do You Think You Are? Is a family tree 

building program designed to efficiently and 

accurately search the family history records 

held at Ancestry.co.uk. The box set also 

includes, a research training DVD, improved 

functionality, facilities to create charts and 

reports, and a 90-day free subscription to 

ancestry.co.uk. 


Verifiedby 

Intel Notebooks 

Intel have always 

supported the channel 

with new and innovative 

ways to help system 

builders create and 

maintain their brands on 

desktops and servers. 

With VBI, Intel now gives 

the same opportunity on 

notebooks, by providing 

top quality chassis, Intel 

warranty support and 

ease of assembly across 

the range with CBB 

components. 

Key Factors: 

Microtronica is the VBI focused distributor holding stock 

across Europe to give continuity of supply 

Competitive pricing across the range 

Eight ODM Manufacturers working with Intel providing 

thirty six different platforms 

CBB (Common Building Block) parts that integrate across 

the whole range, as shown below 

Hard Disk 

LCD 

Keyboards 

ODD 

Custom Panels 

Battery Pack 

AC Adapter 

Call Microtronica today to find out how you can be part of VBI or visit the web sites below. 

www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/emea/eng/283358.htm 

www.microtronicauk.com/notebooks.htm 

First for Notebooks 

0870 011 9000 

www.microtronicauk.com 

The hardware vendors of the barebone notebooks and the interchangeable components remain solely responsible for the design, sale and functionality of their 

respective products, including any liability arising from product infringement and product warranty. Intel is not warranting the products of the hardware vendors

SECTOR GUIDE 

NETWORKING 

Cables and Wireless 

If anything exemplifies the growing ‘geekification’ of society it must be the boom in home 

networking. With 802.11n fast becoming a reality, Scott Bicheno takes a look at the Wi-Fi and 

HomePlug market... 

D-Link has redesigned 

its product packaging 

to be as user-friendly 

as possible for 

consumers 

Networking is traditionally a product category 

so impenetrably technical that most 

consumers shy away from it. Furthermore, 

just when things got relatively user-friendly in the 

wired networking sphere, it was decided that wires 

were undesirable and snappily named technologies 

like 802.11a, b, g and now n appeared to throw 

fiendish new challenges at the beleaguered punter. 

One thing that’s certain, however, is that home 

networking is here to stay. As the amount of digital 

information owned by consumers – in the form of 

photos, video, music, etc – grows exponentially, so 

does the need to store it and easily access it. 

The technology industry has been promoting 

the vision of the digital home for what seems 

like an eternity, but 2007 could mark the 

year it finally breaks into the mainstream. 

If it does it will be down to two main 

factors: the boom in digital content and 

the growth in wireless networking. 

It’s now possible to store almost 

limitless amounts of digital content and 

wirelessly stream them to as many devices as you 

can cram into your house. The only thing preventing 

wireless home networks becoming as ubiquitous as 

the PCs and TVs they connect is ease of use. 

“Many consumers are facing confusion over what 

products they need for their wireless network,” says 

Andrew Mulholland, D-Link marketing manager for 

UK and Ireland. “D-Link has now completely 

redesigned its product packaging to be as userfriendly 

as possible. Not only will this make it even 

easier for consumers to buy the right product, it will 

also reduce the number of products returned due to 

incorrect selection at the point of sale.” 

Beverley Hancock, retail channel manager for UK 

& Ireland at Netgear, agrees: “The major challenge 

faced by networking product suppliers over the 

coming months and years, as broadband penetration 

reaches saturation point, is one of consumer 

education,” she says. 

Most consumers can probably get their head 

around buying a wireless router to enable wireless 

internet access for their laptops. 


SECTOR GUIDE 

NETWORKING 

However, James Lee, UK sales manager at 

Buffalo Technology, thinks beyond that expert 

assistance may be needed. “While the average 

homeowner might be confident enough to set 

up a wireless router, they are probably less sure 

of setting up a storage network that can be 

accessed wirelessly – whether at home or 

away,” he says. “That’s where retailers can add 

value and increase their margins." 

One of the reasons Joe Public might struggle 

to set up a wireless network is interoperability, 

as Ivar Beljaars, EMEA product marketing at 

Cisco-Linksys explains: “The major challenge 

faced by the home networking sector today is to 

achieve a consistent user experience between 

interconnecting devices.” 

This is the concern of wireless industry body, 

the Wi-Fi Alliance. Its main concern now is with 

802.11n, which promises twice the range and 

five times the data rate of 802.11g. It’s the job of 

the IEEE to ratify this technology, a process not 

expected to be completed until late 2008, but the 

Wi-Fi Alliance aims to ensure interoperability 

between products produced by its members. 

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS 

D-Link DKT-410 Wireless N Starter Kit 

Enta: 0870 7704996 

Price: £119.14 

What they say: Provides everything a 

user needs to get a wireless network up 

and running. This Wireless N Starter Kits 

appeals to users who demand 

increased wireless 

performance and those who 

want to upgrade their existing 

Wireless G network. 

(From top right) MULHOLLAND: “Many 

consumers are facing confusion over what 

products they need for their wireless 

network”; HUDDLESTONE: “Everyone likes 

the perceived wireless freedom for internet 

access at home”; LEE: “Retailers can add 

value and increased their margins with 

wireless set-up” 

A major challenge 

for the home 

networking sector is to 

achieve a consistent user 

experience between 

interconnecting devices. 

Ivar Beljaars, 

Cisco-Linksys 

NETGEAR RangeMax NEXT 

Wireless N modem router, 

DG834N 

Spire: 0870 950 0900 

Price: £93.99 

What they say: 

Simultaneously stream HD 

video, play games online, 

make internet phone calls and 

surf the web without wires. 

Wireless N Storage Link Router, 

WRT350N 

Ingram Micro: 0870 1660160 

Price: £159 

What they say: A MultiMedia 

Storage Router that combines a 

high speed internet router with a 

USB Network Attached Media 

Storage device in a single 

products. 


HANCOCK (top): “Consumer education is 

needed”; MACE: “Mixing technologies is the 

way forward” 

“Our testing, which we call Wi-Fi certified, is 

really about looking after the consumer,” says 

Karen Hanley of the Wi-Fi Alliance. “It’s about 

ensuring that the product’s been tested for 

interoperability across different brands. 

“There’s been a lot of product out there that 

hasn’t been tested for interoperability,” she says. 

“Our first intention was to align our testing with 

the finalisation of the ratification of the standard 

through the IEEE. Unfortunately the ratification 

process has taken longer than originally expected, 

so we felt that for the sake of consumers it was 

important that interoperability testing happened.” 

Devolo dLAN 200 AV Starter Kit 

Northamber: 0208 2967066 

Price: £129.99 

What they say: This utilises the 

latest HomePlug AV standard 

technology, can provide a 

reliable and robust network 

bandwidth for up to 2x HD Video 

streams – and can also provide 

network coverage for about 95 

per cent of a house. 

The main consequence of this is that ‘n’ is 

here and products are already on the shelves. 

“Linksys expects that 802.11n mass market 

adoption will take another nine to 12 months,” 

says Beljaars, going on to predict that ‘n’ will begin 

to outsell ‘g’ in around a year. “The advantages of 

Wireless N can be fully utilised when consumers 

use a Wireless N adapter to connect their laptops 

to the home network. Often consumers rely on 

their embedded client, but they do not take the 

benefit of the additional speed and range offered 

by the Wireless N Router.” 

The Wi-Fi Alliance accreditation is being 

referred to as draft-n 2.0 and appears to offer 

reassurance to vendors as well as consumers. 

“This draft 2.0 approval guarantees that no 

further hardware changes will be required for 

the approval of the final standard and all D- 

Link’s products sold to date can be upgraded to 

the final standard via software upgrades,” 

comments Mulholland. 

So with all this activity around Wi-Fi it’s safe 

to assume that wired networking in the home is 

dead, right? Apparently not, at least not as we 

know it. You see we already have a wired 

network in every house, but until now it has 

been used solely for carrying power. If 

companies like Devolo, which specialise in 

HomePlug (as power line networking has come 

to be known), have their way we’ll soon be 

using them to transmit data too. 

“Everyone likes the perceived wireless 

freedom for internet access at home, and it’s 

perfect for some applications,” says Peter 

Huddlestone, Devolo UK operations manager. 

“However, old brick houses and multi-floors in 

European buildings ensure that wireless-only 

networks have more penetration difficulties than 

HomePlug networks. Electric power sockets are 

normally in every room, so therefore wherever 

you have a plug, you have a reliable network 

point with HomePlug.” 

Most networking vendors also have 

HomePlug products and networking specialist 

distributor Solwise feels all forms of networking 

have their place. “Mixing technologies is the 

way forward, use wireless where you can, 

complement this with HomePlug and if you can, 

the best way forward is laying a cable,” says 

Steve Mace of Solwise. 

Consumers are growing their awareness of 

home networking and when HD content 

becomes more prevalent they will want the kind 

of bandwidth ‘n’ offers. The key for retailers is to 

offer guidance and support to their customers. 

SECTOR GUIDE 

NETWORKING 

Hercules Wi-Fi Router 

Interactive ideas: 0208 8051000 

Price: £69 

They say: The Hercules router 

connects directly to your ADSL 

Ethernet modem, Cable 

modem or internet box. Just 

select it and navigate. 

Some fast 

facts from the 

Wi-Fi alliance 

● 350 million people use Wi-Fi 

● 200,000 Wi-Fi ‘hotspots’ to connect on 

the go at airports, cafes, hotels, parks 

and more 

● Nearly 1,000 cities using Wi-Fi to 

connect communities, attract 

investment and serve citizens 

● 78 per cent of Wi-Fi users are interested 

in upgrading their Wi-Fi for more 

coverage and a fatter pipe 

● Average number of devices on the 

home Wi-Fi network: 4 

● Growing strong: 200 million Wi-Fi units 

shipped in 2006; Industry to ship 700m+ 

units in 2011 

● Converged Wi-Fi / mobile phones a 

major growth area – 325m units in 

2011* 

● Consumer electronics devices 

connecting with Wi-Fi – 249m units in 

2011, including all portable gaming 

devices 

AirStation Nfiniti Wireless-N ADSL2+ 

broadband modem router, WBMR-G300N 

C2000: 0870 0603344 

Price: £108 

They say: Ideally suited for quick and easy 

setup. It features AOSS (AirStation One- 

Touch Secure System), the easiest and 

most secure one-touch wireless setup 

system available on the 

market today. 


PCR COMPETITION • WIN THE ULTIMATE DESKTOP SOLUTION 

Windows Vista Ultimate 

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THE PRIZE 

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WIN A SECURE 

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Windows Live OneCare 

Windows Live OneCare is a comprehensive 

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● Regular antivirus scanning – To help keep 

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Windows Live OneCare automatically scans the 

files and folders on your computer, including 

e-mail attachments as you open them. 

● Enhanced protection from spyware – 

Windows Live OneCare's antispyware technology 

helps protect your computer from spyware 

programs that secretly monitor your activities or 

pop-ups that negatively impact your computer's 

security and performance. 

To win everything you see here just answer the following question 

In which year did the first Microsoft mouse ship? 

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FOR SALES OR MORE INFORMATION CALL 

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● Continuous firewall monitoring – The 

Windows Live OneCare firewall is a two-way 

managed firewall. This means that both inbound 

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Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 keyboard and mouse 

The sleek, ultra-thin Comfort Curve keyboard encourages natural hand and wrist 

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Q. 

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● Easy file backup and restore – With Windows 

Live OneCare you can make copies of important 

files and documents and store them on a CD, DVD, 

or an external hard drive in case of an emergency. 

You can do it manually or have Windows Live 

OneCare do it automatically so you don't have to 

remember to back up your files and documents on 

a regular basis. Windows Live OneCare will also 

help restore backed-up files to your computer if 

you've encountered system problems. 

● Continuously updated – Windows Live 

OneCare updates itself automatically to help 

ensure that your virus, firewall, and spyware 

protection is always up to date and ready to help 

protect you from the latest threats. Windows Live 

OneCare not only helps protect your computer, it 

also helps keep it in good health. “

igred technology 

Manage Users and Groups through the web wizard, use Outlook® for email 

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The built for purpose design delivers higher reliability than general server 

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SECTOR GUIDE 

IN-CAR DEVICES 

Knight Rider 

I presume? 

While David Hasselhoff and his Pontiac Trans-Am were clearly well ahead of the game with 

their in-car technology in the 1980s, the rest of us are now able to catch up. As Ian Osborne 

finds out, there are a number of firms just waiting to pimp your ride... 

In-car technology has come a long way over the 

last few years. Gone are the days when all you 

needed – or indeed, all you could buy – was a 

basic radio/cassette player and a miniature kettle 

powered from the cigarette lighter. 

Now your customers can treat themselves to all 

sorts of amazing devices, from in-car DVD players 

to parking sensors. PC Retail takes a look at a range 

of in-car gadgets over the next two pages (all prices 

offered are RRP)… 

ROADPILOT MICROGO 

CAMERA DETECTOR 

MicroGo is described as ‘the world's smallest 

GPS speed camera warning system’. Utilising 

GPS technology, it comes preloaded with 

RoadPilot’s database of speed camera 

locations and accident black spots for most 

of Europe. It’s ready to use straight out of 

the box, offers a 64-colour option backlight 

to match a cars instrument display and 

costs £129.95 for the basic unit or £198.99 for 

the deluxe model with built-in laser 

detection to spot mobile speed traps. 

SWEEX USB CAR 

CHARGER 

For punters who want to charge or 

use an MP3 player or PDA in the car 

– or indeed power any USB device – 

the Sweex USB Car Charger could 

be just what you’re looking for. It’s 

powered by the vehicle’s cigarette 

lighter socket, and is suitable for 12 

and 24 volts. It retails at £6.95. 

MUSTEK IN-CAR DVD PLAYER 

For customers who are planning a long journey but dreading the 

kids screaming ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ every half a mile, there’s 

the Mustek In-Car DVD Player. Described as a ‘backseat cinema’, 

the device features two seven-inch LCD widescreens which mount 

into harnesses behind the front seat headrests. It plays DVD movies, 

music CDs and Picture CDs, and is also compatible with most 

gaming consoles. Not bad for £149.99. 

LOGIC 3 FM TRANSMITTERS 

Short-range in-car FM transmitters were legalised in January, 

so now your customers can listen to your digital audio player 

through their in-car stereo without any wires in the way. 

Logic 3 has released two such devices. Fans of Apple’s iPod 

should be offered the In-Car FM Transmitter and Charger 

(£24.99), which beams sounds to an FM radio and also 

charges the iPod, using the car’s cigarette lighter socket. It 

can transmit (but not charge) other audio devices too. For a 

cheaper (but non-recharging) solution, you can 

recommend the Universal FM Transmitter, which works with 

anything and costs around £8.50. 

TRUST 

NOTEBOOK 

ADAPTERS 

For those who wish to use their 

laptops in the car, Trust has a 

couple of adapters which 

power or charge a portable 

through the car’s cigarette 

lighter. The Notebook Power 

Adapter (Car Version) costs 

£19.99, is compatible with most 

notebook models, and is surge 

protected up to 10A. The 5-in-1 

Notebook Power Adapter is 

incredibly versatile, but not 

cheap at £59.99. It can power 

a laptop and simultaneously 

charge an iPod, mobile phone 

or Sony PSP. Ten different 

notebook connectors are 

supplied. 


SECTOR GUIDE 


HANDS-FREE KITS 

Using a mobile phone while driving is 

dangerous and illegal. Luckily, there’s a 

range of hands-free solutions out there 

which let your customers chat without 

holding a phone to their ear. £25 will get 

them a Motorola H350 Bluetooth Headset, 

which fits over the ear and is compatible 

with all Bluetooth-capable mobile phones. 

But for fashion-conscious drivers who resent 

looking like an extra from Star Trek when they 

drive, there’s a car-mounted model like the 

Pama Sigma Sun Visor 2300 Bluetooth 

Handsfree Car Kit with Caller Number 

Display. Costing just under £40, the device is 

far more petite than its rather verbose name 

and offers voice dialling, caller display and 

support for five languages. 

UPGRADE 

To A Premium 

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Sales: 08701 648 501 

ZYPAD WL 1000 

Wow, is this hi-tech and gadgety 

enough for you? The Zypad WL 1000 

is a wrist-wearable wireless computer 

designed to give the user instant 

access to computing capabilities 

while keeping hands free for tasks 

like driving. The WL 1000 can run 

Windows or Linux, and boasts built-in 

GPS tracking, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 

capabilities. Can in-car computing 

get any more science fiction? 

PARKING SENSORS 

For drivers who regularly trash their indicators or bend their 

bumpers when parking their pride and joy, a parking sensor system 

is a real boon. The Meta SR2 Targa System costs around £100 and 

fits on any rear number plate. When reversing, the device emits a 

buzzing sound when an object is nearby, with a broken buzz 

turning into a steady buzz at very close distances. For £200, there’s 

the Steelmate PTS800MN, which boasts four front and four rear 

bumper-mounted sensors, two control units, two digital readouts 

and a patented anti-false alarm system. 

Sapphire ATI RADEON 

HD2600XT GDDR4 

• 256MB GDDR4 memory (2200MHz) 

• DirectX 10 compatible 

• CrossFire & HDMI support 

• Windows Vista ® Home Premium ready 

£71.17 


DIGITAL AUDIO-TO-CASSETTE 

PLAYER ADAPTERS 

If your customer’s car stereo has a cassette player, they can 

insert a cassette-shaped adapter with a lead that plugs into 

the MP3’s audio jack. They range from £20-£40, depending 

on the brand and the extras included within the package. 

The Belkin iPod Car and Home audio kit bundle (£39.95) is 

one such solution, and it also contains a charger that lets 

you recharge an iPod through the car’s cigarette lighter. Dr 

Bott Cassette and RCA for iPod (£19.95) includes a cassette 

adapter and an RCA cable link to connect to most home 

hi-fis, but for just the cassette adapter, Monster iCarPlay 

Cassette Adapter (£17.95) is a cheaper solution. 

TECKNET USB 

FLASH MEMORY 

MP3 ADAPTER 

WITH 7 FM 

CHANNELS 

Now here’s a smart piece of 

technology. Like the FM 

transmitters covered 

elsewhere, it broadcasts MP3s 

on the FM band, so consumers 

can tune in and listen using 

their in-car radios. But this one 

will play tunes from any USB 

device that’s plugged into it. 

For punters who don’t have, 

and don’t want, an iPod or 

similar digital audio player, but 

would like to play their MP3s in 

the car, it’s the ideal solution. 

Just pack any old USB memory 

stick and listen away. TeckNet 

USB Flash Memory MP3 

Adapter is only a few quid, 

and is powered by the car’s 

cigarette lighter socket. 


HD2400PRO PCI-E 

• 256MB DDR2 memory (800MHz) 


• CrossFire & HDTV support 

• Windows Vista® Home Premium ready 

£22.68 


SECTOR GUIDE 


Knight Rider 

I presume? 

While David Hasselhoff and his Pontiac Trans-Am were clearly well ahead of the game with 

their in-car technology in the 1980s, the rest of us are now able to catch up. As Ian Osborne 

finds out, there are a number of firms just waiting to pimp your ride... 

In-car technology has come a long way over the 

last few years. Gone are the days when all you 

needed – or indeed, all you could buy – was a 

basic radio/cassette player and a miniature kettle 

powered from the cigarette lighter. 

Now your customers can treat themselves to all 

sorts of amazing devices, from in-car DVD players 

to parking sensors. PC Retail takes a look at a range 

of in-car gadgets over the next two pages (all prices 

offered are RRP)… 

ROADPILOT MICROGO 

CAMERA DETECTOR 

MicroGo is described as ‘the world's smallest 

GPS speed camera warning system’. Utilising 

GPS technology, it comes preloaded with 

RoadPilot’s database of speed camera 

locations and accident black spots for most 

of Europe. It’s ready to use straight out of 

the box, offers a 64-colour option backlight 

to match a cars instrument display and 

costs £129.95 for the basic unit or £198.99 for 

the deluxe model with built-in laser 

detection to spot mobile speed traps. 

SWEEX USB CAR 

CHARGER 

For punters who want to charge or 

use an MP3 player or PDA in the car 

– or indeed power any USB device – 

the Sweex USB Car Charger could 

be just what you’re looking for. It’s 

powered by the vehicle’s cigarette 

lighter socket, and is suitable for 12 

and 24 volts. It retails at £6.95. 

MUSTEK IN-CAR DVD PLAYER 

For customers who are planning a long journey but dreading the 

kids screaming ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ every half a mile, there’s 

the Mustek In-Car DVD Player. Described as a ‘backseat cinema’, 

the device features two seven-inch LCD widescreens which mount 

into harnesses behind the front seat headrests. It plays DVD movies, 

music CDs and Picture CDs, and is also compatible with most 

gaming consoles. Not bad for £149.99. 

LOGIC 3 FM TRANSMITTERS 

Short-range in-car FM transmitters were legalised in January, 

so now your customers can listen to your digital audio player 

through their in-car stereo without any wires in the way. 

Logic 3 has released two such devices. Fans of Apple’s iPod 

should be offered the In-Car FM Transmitter and Charger 

(£24.99), which beams sounds to an FM radio and also 

charges the iPod, using the car’s cigarette lighter socket. It 

can transmit (but not charge) other audio devices too. For a 

cheaper (but non-recharging) solution, you can 

recommend the Universal FM Transmitter, which works with 

anything and costs around £8.50. 

TRUST 

NOTEBOOK 

ADAPTERS 

For those who wish to use their 

laptops in the car, Trust has a 

couple of adapters which 

power or charge a portable 

through the car’s cigarette 

lighter. The Notebook Power 

Adapter (Car Version) costs 

£19.99, is compatible with most 

notebook models, and is surge 

protected up to 10A. The 5-in-1 

Notebook Power Adapter is 

incredibly versatile, but not 

cheap at £59.99. It can power 

a laptop and simultaneously 

charge an iPod, mobile phone 

or Sony PSP. Ten different 

notebook connectors are 

supplied. 


SECTOR GUIDE 


HANDS-FREE KITS 

Using a mobile phone while driving is 

dangerous and illegal. Luckily, there’s a 

range of hands-free solutions out there 

which let your customers chat without 

holding a phone to their ear. £25 will get 

them a Motorola H350 Bluetooth Headset, 

which fits over the ear and is compatible 

with all Bluetooth-capable mobile phones. 

But for fashion-conscious drivers who resent 

looking like an extra from Star Trek when they 

drive, there’s a car-mounted model like the 

Pama Sigma Sun Visor 2300 Bluetooth 

Handsfree Car Kit with Caller Number 

Display. Costing just under £40, the device is 

far more petite than its rather verbose name 

and offers voice dialling, caller display and 

support for five languages. 

UPGRADE 

To A Premium 

Windows Vista 

Experience With 

Sapphire 

Sales: 08701 648 501 

ZYPAD WL 1000 

Wow, is this hi-tech and gadgety 

enough for you? The Zypad WL 1000 

is a wrist-wearable wireless computer 

designed to give the user instant 

access to computing capabilities 

while keeping hands free for tasks 

like driving. The WL 1000 can run 

Windows or Linux, and boasts built-in 

GPS tracking, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 

capabilities. Can in-car computing 

get any more science fiction? 

PARKING SENSORS 

For drivers who regularly trash their indicators or bend their 

bumpers when parking their pride and joy, a parking sensor system 

is a real boon. The Meta SR2 Targa System costs around £100 and 

fits on any rear number plate. When reversing, the device emits a 

buzzing sound when an object is nearby, with a broken buzz 

turning into a steady buzz at very close distances. For £200, there’s 

the Steelmate PTS800MN, which boasts four front and four rear 

bumper-mounted sensors, two control units, two digital readouts 

and a patented anti-false alarm system. 


HD2600XT GDDR4 

• 256MB GDDR4 memory (2200MHz) 


• CrossFire & HDMI support 

• Windows Vista ® Home Premium ready 

£71.17 


DIGITAL AUDIO-TO-CASSETTE 

PLAYER ADAPTERS 

If your customer’s car stereo has a cassette player, they can 

insert a cassette-shaped adapter with a lead that plugs into 

the MP3’s audio jack. They range from £20-£40, depending 

on the brand and the extras included within the package. 

The Belkin iPod Car and Home audio kit bundle (£39.95) is 

one such solution, and it also contains a charger that lets 

you recharge an iPod through the car’s cigarette lighter. Dr 

Bott Cassette and RCA for iPod (£19.95) includes a cassette 

adapter and an RCA cable link to connect to most home 

hi-fis, but for just the cassette adapter, Monster iCarPlay 

Cassette Adapter (£17.95) is a cheaper solution. 

TECKNET USB 

FLASH MEMORY 

MP3 ADAPTER 

WITH 7 FM 

CHANNELS 

Now here’s a smart piece of 

technology. Like the FM 

transmitters covered 

elsewhere, it broadcasts MP3s 

on the FM band, so consumers 

can tune in and listen using 

their in-car radios. But this one 

will play tunes from any USB 

device that’s plugged into it. 

For punters who don’t have, 

and don’t want, an iPod or 

similar digital audio player, but 

would like to play their MP3s in 

the car, it’s the ideal solution. 

Just pack any old USB memory 

stick and listen away. TeckNet 

USB Flash Memory MP3 

Adapter is only a few quid, 

and is powered by the car’s 

cigarette lighter socket. 


HD2400PRO PCI-E 

• 256MB DDR2 memory (800MHz) 


• CrossFire & HDTV support 

• Windows Vista® Home Premium ready 

£22.68 


HIGH Style, High Performance 

Cases from Antec 

NEW 

Antec Fusion Black Media Centre 

Case 

• Front LCD display and volume control 

• Windows Vista ® compatible IR receiver 

• Triple chamber structure for cooler and 

quieter operation 

• 430W Ultra quiet PSU 

£89.33 


Antec Midi Case P190 

Neo-link 1200W 

• Dual chamber structure 

• Neo-link 1200W dual PSU system 

• Fits up to ExtendedATX motherboards 

• Flexible "snake" light 

£191.48 


Antec Midi Case Sonata 

Designer 500W 

• Whisper quiet operation 

• Efficient 500W EarthWatts PSU 

• mATX and ATX 

• High definition front audio ports 

£72.47 




www.vip-computers.com Sales: 08701 648 501 

NO 

CREDIT 

SURCHARGE * 

CPUs • Hard Drives • Memory • Video Cards • Flash Memory • Networking • Displays • Cases • Peripherals • Notebooks

On the 

road 

The creation of Microsoft’s Automotive Business 

Unit, Blue&Me aims to bring a standard interface to 

the entertainment platform found on most modern 

cars. This currently includes the likes of navigation, music 

and video playback. 

While the thought of Windows controlling your car’s 

brakes may make you shudder, Carmelo Morgano, 

worldwide sales manager, Microsoft Automotive Business 

Unit repeatedly affirmed its intentions “stop at 

multimedia” and that it is not targeting “safety or 

security”. However, Morgano envisaged a time when the 

system would control the climate in the car’s passenger 

cabin – handling aspects such as air conditioning. 

Currently most in-car entertainment systems are 

proprietary to each manufacturer, with differing 

components, wiring harnesses and protocols. The 

challenge for Microsoft was to produce a platform which 

can be sold to a number of manufacturers allowing them 

to cut costs and offer an increased level of personalisation 

for manufacturer and customer. 

In the past year Microsoft has announced a tie-in with 

Ford so its Blue&Me system will be available in a number 

of models including the Focus. This follows on from a 

similar deal with the Fiat Group, Microsoft’s 2006 launch 

partner. With two of the biggest automobile manufacturers 

signed up, Microsoft and supporting retailers can feel there 

is some mileage in supporting this new platform. 

A smooth ride 

Part of Blue&Me’s success can be put down to the 

relatively low price that new car buyers have to shell out 

for the unit. 

The basic unit costs £100 on the Fiat Bravo and while 

lacking the satellite navigation capabilities of its more 

expensive model, for a built in MP3 player with upgrade 

options it represents formidable value for money. 

PRODUCT FOCUS 

MICROSOFT ABU 

Microsoft has hit the road with Blue&Me, an in-car entertainment system offering functionality and 

upgradability for owners, opening up new opportunities for retailers. Lawrence Latif reports... 

MORGANO: Keen to stress 

the personalisation themes 

With two of 

the biggest 

automobile 

manufacturers 

signed up, 

Microsoft and 

supporting 

retailers can feel 

there is some 

mileage in 

supporting 

this new 

platform. 

It is those upgrade capabilities which make Blue&Me 

such an interesting prospect for distributors and retailers. 

Morgano’s vision of having a platform that allows the 

vehicle’s occupants access to ‘Live services’ such as traffic 

reports, related pictures and information about localities 

are enticing. Morgano didn’t stop there, talking 

passionately about what he termed “customer relationship 

management”. 

The incentives for new car buyers is high. Through a 

simple USB port found in the glove box, users can 

download and install software, play music or grab updated 

maps from a USB memory stick or add functionality such 

as satellite navigation. There are security measures in 

place so that installed software cannot affect the core 

functionality that came with the system. 

Going forward 

At this year’s CES show, Morgano’s team launched an 

updated version of Blue&Me featuring built in satellite 

navigation. Morgano sees future advances being far more 

leading edge with features such as natural voice 

recognition being implemented. However, there are limits 

on what Blue&Me can do thanks to legislation. 

Part of the Microsoft design ethos behind Blue&Me is to 

allow car manufacturers to customise their system for 

different regions and legislative tolerances. Personalisation 

is a theme Morgano was keen to stress. Not only for 

manufacturers but end-users too. The ability to personalise 

your system could be a boon for retailers. 

By encouraging development, Blue&Me could be just 

the thing for retailers to wean themselves off satellite 

navigation units, yet continue to attract drivers. With the 

continual support of Bluetooth devices and software 

meshed to a growing user base, Blue&Me offers retailers a 

chance to build on the success of satellite navigation units 

and provide an enduring appealing to drivers. 


On the 

road 

The creation of Microsoft’s Automotive Business 

Unit, Blue&Me aims to bring a standard interface to 

the entertainment platform found on most modern 

cars. This currently includes the likes of navigation, music 

and video playback. 

While the thought of Windows controlling your car’s 

brakes may make you shudder, Carmelo Morgano, 

worldwide sales manager, Microsoft Automotive Business 

Unit repeatedly affirmed its intentions “stop at 

multimedia” and that it is not targeting “safety or 

security”. However, Morgano envisaged a time when the 

system would control the climate in the car’s passenger 

cabin – handling aspects such as air conditioning. 

Currently most in-car entertainment systems are 

proprietary to each manufacturer, with differing 

components, wiring harnesses and protocols. The 

challenge for Microsoft was to produce a platform which 

can be sold to a number of manufacturers allowing them 

to cut costs and offer an increased level of personalisation 

for manufacturer and customer. 

In the past year Microsoft has announced a tie-in with 

Ford so its Blue&Me system will be available in a number 

of models including the Focus. This follows on from a 

similar deal with the Fiat Group, Microsoft’s 2006 launch 

partner. With two of the biggest automobile manufacturers 

signed up, Microsoft and supporting retailers can feel there 

is some mileage in supporting this new platform. 

A smooth ride 

Part of Blue&Me’s success can be put down to the 

relatively low price that new car buyers have to shell out 

for the unit. 

The basic unit costs £100 on the Fiat Bravo and while 

lacking the satellite navigation capabilities of its more 

expensive model, for a built in MP3 player with upgrade 

options it represents formidable value for money. 

PRODUCT FOCUS 

MICROSOFT ABU 

Microsoft has hit the road with Blue&Me, an in-car entertainment system offering functionality and 

upgradability for owners, opening up new opportunities for retailers. Lawrence Latif reports... 

MORGANO: Keen to stress 

the personalisation themes 

With two of 

the biggest 

automobile 

manufacturers 

signed up, 

Microsoft and 

supporting 

retailers can feel 

there is some 

mileage in 

supporting 

this new 

platform. 

It is those upgrade capabilities which make Blue&Me 

such an interesting prospect for distributors and retailers. 

Morgano’s vision of having a platform that allows the 

vehicle’s occupants access to ‘Live services’ such as traffic 

reports, related pictures and information about localities 

are enticing. Morgano didn’t stop there, talking 

passionately about what he termed “customer relationship 

management”. 

The incentives for new car buyers is high. Through a 

simple USB port found in the glove box, users can 

download and install software, play music or grab updated 

maps from a USB memory stick or add functionality such 

as satellite navigation. There are security measures in 

place so that installed software cannot affect the core 

functionality that came with the system. 

Going forward 

At this year’s CES show, Morgano’s team launched an 

updated version of Blue&Me featuring built in satellite 

navigation. Morgano sees future advances being far more 

leading edge with features such as natural voice 

recognition being implemented. However, there are limits 

on what Blue&Me can do thanks to legislation. 

Part of the Microsoft design ethos behind Blue&Me is to 

allow car manufacturers to customise their system for 

different regions and legislative tolerances. Personalisation 

is a theme Morgano was keen to stress. Not only for 

manufacturers but end-users too. The ability to personalise 

your system could be a boon for retailers. 

By encouraging development, Blue&Me could be just 

the thing for retailers to wean themselves off satellite 

navigation units, yet continue to attract drivers. With the 

continual support of Bluetooth devices and software 

meshed to a growing user base, Blue&Me offers retailers a 

chance to build on the success of satellite navigation units 

and provide an enduring appealing to drivers. 


Mission: 

Mid-market 

Having emphasised ‘bang per buck’ with its first major post-acquisition 

graphics launch, AMD now offers up its key mid-range cards. .net 

gives us its first impressions of these critical products. 

Last month saw the official launch of AMD’s latest mid-range 

graphics cards. The Radeon HD 2600 and 2400 family aim 

to dethrone NVIDIA's GeForce 8600/8500/8400 by 

offering a greater feature-set, better performance and a lower 

comparative street price. 

It all seems too good to be true from a company that has made 

late introductions something of a mission statement of late. After 

all, its exceedingly late-to-market Radeon HD 2900 XT could only 

compete against NVIDIA's G80 by having a hacksaw taken to its 

original pricing. 

With all this in mind, let’s now see if the DX10-compatible HD 

2000-series can make AMD some decent money – it needs it. 

Under pressure 

AMD, in its infinite wisdom, provided HEXUS with Radeon HD 

2600 XT and Radeon HD 2400 XT cards on a Sunday night. The 

time between grabbing the hardware and publishing this review 

has been spent in pulling out what hair (collectively) we have left. 

Short-notice, poor drivers and re-testing of copious amounts of 

hardware together mean that this should be considered more of an 

architectural-look and a performance-preview than a 

comprehensive, non-time-dependent appraisal of AMD's mid-range 

graphics technology. 

Excuses out of the way: the AMD Radeon HD 2600 and HD 

2400 series in detail, which sees AMD fill out the mid-range and 

PCRetail August 67

PRODUCT FOCUS 

RADEON HD2400 AND HD2600 

low-end with its DX10-supporting GPUs. Thinking 

about it some, the Radeon HD 2600’s architecture 

is, for all intents and purposes, a shrunken version 

of the Radeon HD 2900 XT 

Having an architecture that’s cut down 

compared to the R600 brings down the transistor 

count to around 390M. Models in the Radeon HD 

2600 series, obviously, are designed to compete 

with NVIDIA’s GeForce 8600 range. A quick look 

at the comparative specs tells us that the HD 2600 

should do well in titles where shading is called to 

the fore, thanks to its higher pure FLOP rate, but 

will suffer in scenarios where pure pixel fill-rate is 

still the all-important factor. 

Runt of the litter 

Pricing, though, looks to be competitive. We’re 

informed that the range-topping Radeon HD 2600 

will debut at below £90 and drop to around £60 

for the DDR2-equipped model. The Radeon HD 

2400 is the runt of the DX10-litter. It's designed as 

a low-cost solution for those looking to upgrade to 

DX10 visuals but hamstrung by a limited budget. 

AMD's done just what we expected it to do with 

its low-to-mid-range DX10 parts. There’s been a 

sensible saving of silicon by the lopping off of 

stream processors and memory bandwidth when 

compared to the Radeon HD 2900 XT. 

The HD 2000 series has been primarily 

architected for DX10, it seems. The shading power 

can be considered reasonable from the unified setup. 

The compromise has been in reducing the pure 

pixel-pushing power to a level that, frankly, even a 

Radeon X1650 XT card can easily out beat out. 

That, on paper, makes the 2000 series a top-heavy 

set-up that will sacrifice performance in older titles 

for higher potential throughput in DX10, and 

beyond. 

The HEXUS.bang4buck index simply divides the 

normalised marks by the current price, to give you 

an easy-to-understand metric that takes value into 

account. The comparatively low street price of the 

Radeon HD 2600 XT is compromised by lacklustre 

– and that's being kind – performance exhibited in 

our benchmarks. 

Current performance in Far Cry, in particular, 

drags the normalised HEXUS.bang4buck graph 

down to an unacceptable level. 

But – and it’s a big 

but – the current 

drivers aren't delivering 

the kind of performance 

that we'd expect from 

knowledge of the 

Radeon HD 2600 XT's 

set-up. 

AMD needs to fully exploit the decent hardware 

with drivers to match - and that doesn't seem to be 

happening right now. The HEXUS.bang4buck graph 

doesn't account for non-3D features such as Avivo 

HD. Further, the metric takes DX9 into account, 

yet doesn't factor in possible performance 

advantages when running DX10 code under Vista. 

Room for improvement 

We began with some architectural facts and figures 

showing both the Radeon HD 2600 XT and 2400 

XT models in a decent comparative light against 

their NVIDIA counterparts, especially with price 

factored in. 

The hardware designers may now be sitting 

back, content that their DX10-supporting mid-range 

SKUs are at least as compelling as the 

competition's. We’d pretty much agree and reckon 

that AMD’s been eminently sensible in castrating its 

mid-range and low-end parts. 

But – and it's a big, big but – the current drivers 

aren’t delivering the kind of performance that we'd 

expect from knowledge of the Radeon HD 2600 

XT's set-up. Performance is so poor that the card is 

often outclassed by a Radeon X1650 XT – and 

totally caned by a similarly-priced, albeit DX9, 

Radeon X1950 Pro. 

With time so limited, we were left still needing 

to investigate DX10 performance so, for AMD’s 

sake, let's hope the RV630 can pull its socks up by 

the time that testing is carried out. We’ve rightfully 

– and repeatedly – lamented the lacklustre 

performance of NVIDIA’s GeForce 8500/8600 

cards, yet in comparison to the HD 2600, they 

seem fast. Only the HD 2400 XTs in our low-end 

look demonstrated any kind of real promise. 

AMD’s woes are further compounded by 

additional driver-related problems that plague highdef 

playback via UVD. We could, and maybe 

should, write another thousand words on why the 

Radeon HD 2000 series isn't quite ready for public 

consumption. But I’m going to save myself the 

bother – and you the headache. 

How? By stating that AMD needs to have its 

drivers in full working order before rolling out new 

SKUs. And that could never be more true of 

products such as the Radeon HD 2600 XT and 

Radeon HD 2400 XT that can, potentially, make or 

break the company’s graphics arm. 

Bottom line? There’s a heap of promise in the 

Radeon HD 2400/2600 series. But that promise is 

concealed – and severely compromised – by the 

lacklustre performance and instability caused by the 

test drivers. 


OPINION 

TECHNICAL SUPPORT 

Notes from the 

frontline 

Richard Mills runs a local computer support company in Cottingham, East Yorkshire. He is a regular 

tech columnist for his local newspaper and has fronted a long running phone-in on BBC Radio. Each 

month he shares his experiences from the tech support frontline... 

INDESTRUCTIBLE: 

Following some recent 

severe flooding in the 

area, we have been doing quite a 

number of quotes for replacement 

equipment. Many businesses and 

home users have been badly 

affected. Proving the robustness of 

some devices, we found a 1Gb SD 

card that had been submerged in 

flood water for 24 hours and then 

lay undiscovered under a desk for a 

week. After a drying session by the 

office window for a few hours, we 

plugged it in and off it went, all the 

data still intact. 

NOT SPEEDY: We did a 

Windows Vista upgrade 

for one of our customers 

recently and on collection he 

announced he a Speedtouch modem 

– no good with Vista then. We 

supplied him with a nice little Zyxel 

modem/router and told him how to 

set it up. About a week later we get 

a call to say he never did get online 

since getting the machine back 

(what was he doing all that time)? I 

went along to have a look and 

instead of setting up the router like 

we’d explained, he had run the ISP 

CD for the Speedtouch modem and 

ended up with 7 x new connections 

none of which would work of 

course. However, the worst bit of it 

was that he had plugged the lead 

from the router into the analogue 

side of the microfilter with an old 

modem lead. 

RAINDROPS KEEP 

FALLING: We have come 

across some strange 

reasons for broadband not working 

or dropping out, like bad internal 

telephone cabling, dodgy sockets or 

extension leads, etc. However, the 

strangest one we had was 

discovered by an engineer to be a 

bad connection under the front 

doorstep that allowed rainwater to 

drop onto them. 

VISTA 1: Windows Vista 

continues to give us a few 

problems in some areas. It 

is certainly very ponderous to use, 

and there are one or two issues 

with AVG Internet Security. The 

other one is with Live Mail, where 

messages just sit in the Outbox and 

will not budge. 

VISTA 2: One of the 

really neat features, 

however, about Windows 

Vista is ‘Ready Boost’ – which is a 

great way to increase memory 

capacity. Temporarily you can use a 

memory stick for example, or a 

really good permanent way, 

particularly in suitably equipped 

laptops is to allocate the whole 

capacity of a flash card, like an SD 

card that fits unobtrusively into its 

socket. 

“Proving the robustness of such devices, 

we found a 1Gb SD card that had 

been submerged in flood water for over 

24 hours and then lay undiscovered 

under a desk for a week. After drying, 

we plugged it in and off it went, data 

still intact.” 

BACK UP ISSUES: A 

Windows 98 box we 

worked on some time ago 

has surfaced again, regrettably. This 

time it is not starting up – the old 

‘insert system disk’ routine. We did 

recommend the customer keep his 

data backed up some time ago 

owing to the age of the machine, 

but he didn’t. Luckily we were able 

to retrieve it for him and 

recommended a nice new PC. 

PRICE CRASH: Prices of 

TFTs have dropped so 

significantly. I came across 

some old quotes the other day and 

the price of a 17-inch panel was 

over £300. Now it has got to the 

point where they surely can’t be 

made for much less. 

Richard D. Mills 

RDM Computers Limited, Cottingham, HU16 5WT 

Tel: 01482 875666 

www.rdmcomputers.co.uk 


ENHANCE to your System Builds 

Logitech Internet 1500 Laser Cordless Desktop 

• Functionality: Calculator, Email, Internet, Media, 

Play/Pause, Mute, Volume -/+ 

• Microsoft ® Windows Start Key 

• Key frame: 104 Key US, 105 Key EMEA 

• Connectivity: USB cordless receiver 

• Cable length: 1.8 m 

• Colour: New Midnight Black 

• Sensor: 1000 dpi laser 

• Print: Laser, Silk screen 

• RoHS compliant 

£19.50 


PN 967743-0120 

Logitech OEM S-220 Speaker 

System 

• Identity, value, and packaging that 

combine to give you a perfectly 

integrated audio solution 

• 17 W speaker system (4 W per 

satellite, 9 W subwoofer) 

• Power, volume, and bass controls 

on a piano-finish control base 

• Headphone jack 

£9.95 


PN 980-000022 

with VIP, your Official Logitech OEM 

Distributor! 

Logitech UltraX Premium 

Keyboard 

• Stylish, ultra low-profile design 

• Microsoft ® Vista ® Premium Certification 

• Driver-free setup (Windows ® XP and 

Vista ®) 

• Spill-resistant 

• Industry-standard 104 or 105 key layout 

• 1.8 m (6-foot) cable 

• USB connector 

£9.75 


PN 920-00189 


Logitech OEM S-120 Black Speaker 

System 

• 2.0 stereo speaker system 

• New design with metal grill (all-matte finish) 

• Satellite base designed for greater stability on 

the desktop 

• Integrated power and volume control 

• 3.5 mm headphone jack included 

• Improved acoustics with 2.3 W RMS output 

£3.95 


PN 980-000011 


www.vip-computers.com/uk Sales: 08701 648 501 

NO 

CREDIT 

SURCHARGE * 

Software • CPUs • Hard Drives • Memory • Video Cards • Flash Memory • Networking • Displays • Cases • Peripherals • Notebooks

MEDION RIM 1000 

NEW PRODUCTS 

PLUG AND PLAY 

Stocking the latest hot gadgets can increase footfall and boost your sales. This month, we look at 

a new Ultra Mobile PC from Medion, while Creative rolls out another Zen MP3 player... 

Ultra Mobile PC 

www.medionshop.co.uk 

Price: £799 

he UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) 

market is in its formative Tstages, 

so manufacturers are 

still experimenting with size and 

format. The initial designs opted 

for no keyboard and Microsoft’s 

TouchPack software that allows 

you to type directly on to the 

screen. The problem is it’s a little 

too fiddly. So Medion has opted 

to build a keyboard into the 

RIM 1000. 

Weighing 745g, it’s 

not too heavy and 

being made of 

plastic it feels solid in 

the hand. But it’s not 

as robust as we first 

thought though. The 

QWERTY keyboard is 

hidden behind the screen 

and you slide it out. 

The screen is a 6.5-inch 

touch screen panel, 

which needs a firm 

press, either with your finger or 

the supplied pen to register. We 

initially had a few problems and 

had to format it a few times 

before the pointer 

actually clicked 

where we wanted 

it too. 

This is the first 

UMPC we’ve seen 

running Vista and 

were actually a 

little surprised to 

find that it would 

run. It’s powered 

by a VIA 1GHz 

processor that isn’t exactly 

designed for performance but 

rather for budget price and 

power conservation. With 

768MB of memory, Windows 

takes a while to load and if you 

try and run more than one 

application at a time, you’ll find 

it slows considerably. 

This isn’t the 

worst UMPC 

we’ve seen, but 

it suffers from 

lack of power 

and long-term 

battery life. 

UMPC devices tend to 

be only as useful as their 

connections and the RIM 

1000 doesn’t lack for them. 

You’ll find 802.11g Wi-FI as 

standard, as is Bluetooth. The 

inclusion of a webcam is nice, 

but with only two USB 2.0 ports, 

the placing of one on the 

bottom of the unit 

seems a little 

strange. If you 

refrain from using 

this port, you'll be 

able to take 

advantage of a 

stand on the rear 

of the device that 

angles it slightly 

towards you. 

The Medion RIM 

1000 isn’t the worst UMPC we’ve 

seen but it suffers from the same 

flaws inherent in all the devices: 

lack of power and long-term 

battery life. The design works 

reasonably well but we’re still 

left thinking, especially for the 

price, why not opt for a fully 

feature notebook? 

CREATIVE ZEN STONE PLUS 

MP3 PLAYER 

Flash MP3 Player 

Inram Micro: 0870 166 060 

Price: £49 

t seems like only days ago 

that Creative announced the Ilaunch 

of its iPod Shuffle killer 

the Zen Stone, but here’s the 

follow up; the Zen Stone Plus. 

The most major upgrade is 

the addition of a round blue 

OLED display for at-a-glance 

track and feature selection 

even though the size of the 

player hasn’t increased. 

Admittedly, the 

screen is small, but 

it’s enough to see 

what is going on 

with your tracks, 

choose the track 

that you want next 

and adjust the 

volume. It also 

means you can 

scroll through the 

players options, 

including a newly added FM 

radio, a recording option, timer 

and stopwatch. 

The Stone Plus comes in six 

high-gloss colours: black, white, 

red, blue, pink and green. 

Creative has upped the ante 

with a 2GB memory capacity 

and tracks can be transferred 

The Zen Stone 

Plus adds lots of 

features without 

changing the 

size or 

functionality of 

the player. 

by the included 

USB cable, 

without the 

need for any 

software. 

Creative does offer some 

simple software via its website so 

you can manage the player, 

however you can drag and 

drop tracks to the Zen Stone Plus 

like the Zen Stone either via a 

PC or a Mac as it 

if was a standard 

USB drive. 

The songs can 

be organised in 

favourite artist or 

playlists folder 

and can be 

played in normal 

or shuffle modes, 

but the player has 

lost the skip to 

next folder option that we really 

liked on the original Zen Stone. 

The Zen Stone Plus takes what 

we think is an already really 

good mini MP3 player, adds a 

screen, adds a radio, and more 

memory without changing the 

size or the functionality of the 

player. Top marks.

ASUS G1/G2 are powered by 

Intel ® Centrino ® Duo Mobile Technology 

ASUS G1S-AK005C 

15.4" TFT (WSXGA+, Colour Shine) • Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2G, 64 bit, 

FSB800) • Video Camera Built-in (1.3 million pixels) • NVidia GeForce 8600M DDR3 

256MB • 2048MB(1024x2) DDRII SDRAM • SATA 160GB HDD(5400rpm) • DVD 

Super Multi LightScribe • Intel 4965ABGN WLAN • Bluetooth Built-in • Ultra-high 

resolution optical mouse • Gaming Carry bag • Vista Home Premium. 

ASUS G2Sc-7R024C 

Mobile Warrior 

17" TFT (WXGA+, Colour Shine) • Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2G, 64 bit, 

FSB800) • Video Camera Built-in (1.3 million pixels) • NVidia GeForce 8600M DDR3 

256MB • 2048MB(1024x2) DDRII SDRAM • SATA 200GB HDD (4200rpm) • DVD 

Super Multi LightScribe • Intel 4965ABGN WLAN • Bluetooth Built-in • Ultra-high 

resolution optical mouse • Gaming Carry bag • Vista Home Premium. 

For more information on these and other great retail products, 

call Computer 2000 Retail Sales on 0870 060 3344. 

The Difference in Distribution 

DEALER PRICE: £1,052.19 

PART CODE: 1379211 

DEALER PRICE: £1,203.55 

PART CODE: 1383594 

www.computer2000.co.uk 

All orders that you place will be subject to acceptance in accordance with 

Computer 2000’s Standard Terms and Conditions of Supply available on its website 

(www.computer2000.co.uk) or available on request.

Game of the month 

BIOSHOCK 

■ Publisher: Take 2 

■ Available: August 24th 

■ Price: £34.99 

Positioned as the spiritual 

successor of System 

Shock 2, it shouldn't come 

as much of a surprise that 

this is one of the most 

awaited games due on 

the PC in the next couple 

of months. 

The developer, Irrational 

Games, is determined to 

make sure that the title is 

just as revolutionary as its 

predecessor was. 

Whereas SS2 was widely 

seen as a commentary 

on the convergence of 

consumerism and 

technology, Irrational is 

positioning Bioshock as a 

look at the mix of biology, 

technology and genetics. 

And with the following SS2 

has, as well as the hype 

that is surrounding the 

imminent release of 

Bioshock, this is one title 

that is unlikely to sit on 

your shelves for long. 

COMING SOON 

AUGUST 

*ABC-certified distribution 102,010 Jan-Dec 05 

NEW RELEASES 

GAMES 

While it may still be hot outside, video game publishers are getting ready 

for Christmas with some big titles due out very soon, starting this month... 

TITLE GENRE PUBLISHER TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTOR DATE 

Basketball Manager 2008 Sim Xider 49 2131 765 01 Pinnacle August 3rd 

MotoGP 07 Racing THQ 01483 767656 Advantage August 3rd 

Premier Manager 08 Sports Zoo Digital 01142 636030 Open August 17th 

Bioshock FPS Take 2 01753 496600 Gem August 24th 

Loki Puzzle Ascaron 020 8309 3600 Open August 24th 

World of Chaos Action Xider 49 2131 765 01 Pinnacle August 24th 

Blazing Angels: Secret Missions Sim Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy August 31st 

Medal Of Honor: Airborne FPS EA 020 8309 3600 Pinnacle August 31st 

European Street Racing Racing Xider 49 2131 765 01 Pinnacle September 7th 

Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms RTS Sega 020 8995 3399 Centresoft September 7th 

CSI 4 Hard Evidence Adventure Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy September 14th 

The Witcher Action Atari 020 8222 9700 Advantage September 14th 

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights Racing THQ 01483 767656 Advantage September 21st 

Heroes V Gold RPG Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy September 28th 

Heroes V Tribes of the East RPG Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy September 28th 

Ratatouille Racing THQ 01483 767656 Advantage September 28th 

Company of Heroes: GOTY RTS THQ 01483 767656 Advantage September TBC 

Unreal Tournament III FPS Midway 020 7382 7720 Trilogy September TBC 

World in Conflict Action Vivendi 01189 209100 Centresoft September TBC 

Scrabble 2007 Puzzle Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy October 5th 

Settlers: Rise of an Empire RTS Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy October 5th 

C.I.D 925: An Ordinary Life Crime Sim Oxygen 01933 442660 Open October 19th 

Pippa Funnell 4 Sim Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy October 26th 

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Action Eidos 020 8636 3000 Centresoft October TBC 

Jackass TV Racing Empire 020 8343 7337 Open October TBC 

PES 2008 Sports Konami 020 8987 5730 Open October TBC 

Assassin’s Creed Action Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy November 9th 

Toy Golf 2 Sports Zoo Digital 01142 636030 Open November 9th 

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway FPS Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy November 16th 

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Shooter Eidos 020 8636 3000 Centresoft November 16th 

Splinter Cell Convicton Action/Stealth Ubisoft 01932 578000 Trilogy November 16th 

PDC World Championship Darts 2008 Sports Oxygen 01933 442660 Open November 23th 

Empire Earth III RTS Vivendi 01189 209100 Centresoft November TBC 

ON THE RADAR 

Medieval II: Kingdoms 

Sega: 020 8995 3399 

Available: September 7th 

Price: £19.99 

World in Conflict 

Vivendi: 0118 920 9100 

Available: September 2007 

Price: £34.99 

Splinter Cell: Conviction 

Ubisoft: 01932 578 000 

Available: November 16th 

Price: £34.99

MARKET DATA 

GFK ANALYSIS 

Photo Frames 

Six million digital cameras were sold in 2006; 82 

per cent of all mobile phone and smartphone 

devices purchased so far in 2007 contain at least 

one camera, while new phones entering the market 

continuingly come with improved picture quality. In 

2006 MP3/MP4 players offering photo-viewing 

features accounted for 39 per cent of total MP3/MP4 

sales compared to only four per cent in 2005. Product 

features catering for the digital image are booming. 

With all this imaging activity, the success of the 

digital photo frame is no surprise. The evidence 

points to potentially an even more successful end of 

year then 2006 and the opportunity for the photo 

frame to cement itself in ‘Christmas product legacy’. 

Boom products of Christmas past include the small 

photo printer. In the last quarter of 2004, sales 

increased from 25,000 units in the summer up to 

240,000 units in December, with a value of about 

£27m. Sales of these products dropped off enormously 

after Christmas, however, this market still performed 

well the following 2005 Christmas. It was only in 

2006 that we saw the first decline in this market. 

It can be argued that the introduction of digital 

photo frames at the end of 2005 played a part in the 

sales decline of small photo printers, markedly so in 

the second half of 2006 when there was a year-onyear 

volume decline of 25 per cent in small photo 

printer market. Either way, the great sales 

performance of digital photo frames last Christmas 

came at the time unexpected to most; sales reported 

around 3,000 units up to September 2006. However, 

what then followed was a volume explosion each 

month up to December when 90,000 units were 

sold, with a value of almost £1 million. 

The most successful channel then was mass 

merchandiser, reaching a 46 per cent volume and a 

52 per cent value share. Following Christmas and 

since the beginning of 2007 this started to change. 

The computer shop and consumer electronic store 

channels started to increase their presence in the 

market and by May this year accounted for 45 per 

cent and 29 per cent of total sales respectively, with 

the mass merchandiser channel losing its dominance. 

Expectations remain high in the market for the last 

two quarters of 2007 as more manufacturers and 

retailers see the opportunities to be had. 

GfK provides market research consultancy to 

manufacturers on the technologies markets and also 

operates a reseller partnership that provides market 

research information to dealers in the channel. For 

further information on GfK please contact Steve Reid 

on tel:0870 603 8147 or email:steve.reid@gfk.co.uk 

The Christmas gift of the year 

Expectations remain 

high as more 

manufacturers and 

retailers see the 

opportunities. 

The next big thing? Digital photo frames 

are currently doing the business, but 

how long will it continue..? 

At the end of 2006, mass merchandisers were the most successful channel for digital photo frame sales (top), 

although since then computer shops and consumer electronic stores have started to pick up the pace 


FEEL THE 

FORCE 

iPod is a registered trademark of Apple Corporation. 

The BooM series is a fashionable collection of iPod ® 

inspired docking and speaker accessories. 

The new BooM1 by TwinMOS satisfies the modern needs created 

by the iPod generation. The BooM1 is not only compatible with 

most of the MP3 players and mobile phones on the market, but 

can also easily connect to laptops and televisions. 

Unlike any other similar product designed for the iPod, the 

BooM1 is equipped with a sub-woofer to achieve the best sound 

quality. The streamlined shape of the BooM1 can easily adapt to 

any interior style, and the slick texture of the BooM adds a touch 

of chic and fashion. 

TwinMOS BooM1 iPod Speakers & Dock - £149.99 (RRP) 

• Sub-woofer for jaw dropping sound and presence 

• iPod auto charge when place on dock 

• User friendly, stylish design 

• Easy-to-use remote control 

• Available in Black or White 

• Compatible with all iPod versions with dock connectors 

• Compatible with other MP3 players and CD players 

• Connect direct to TV and enjoy cinematic experience 

If you’re interested in stocking the TwinMOS BooM1, 

please call 020 7289 7889 or visit the website - 

www.twinmos.com/boom for more information. 

Shop on-line at www.urboom.com

SAPPHIRE Graphics Cards 

Now available from Avnet 

Avnet Computing Components 

452 Bath Road, Slough 

Berkshire SL1 6BB 

Phone +44 (0) 1628 606060 

Fax +44 (0) 1628 606206 

Email acc.sales.uk@avnet.com 

Web www.ats.avnet.com/europe 

Why buy from Avnet? 

Central European stock 

holding 

Top quality products from 

leading manufacturers 

Focused components linecard 

Competitive pricing 

HP and IBM Certifi ed 

Integration Centre for servers 

& workstations 

Technical expertise 

Dedicated account manager 

Secure online order status 

facility – channel connection 

© 2007 Advanced Micro Device, Inc.All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow 

logo, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, the AMD64 logo, ATI, ATI 

Radeon logo are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 

SAPPHIRE products now in stock at Avnet - please call

*From May 2007 data 

LAPTOPS CRT MONITORS FP MONITORS 

1 1 1 

FSC 

LI1705 

2 HP, 510 RU962AA 

3 ACER, ASPIRE 5612ZWLMI 

4 ACER, ASPIRE 9303WSMI 

5 ACER, 3682WXMI 

6 HP, MEDIA CENTER G5056EA 

7 HP, NX6325 

8 TOSHIBA, SATELLITE P100-160 

9 HP, PAVILION DV6330EA 

10 ACER, 5633WLMI 

MAXVIEW 

FH776 17 CRT 

2 CTX, EX701F+ 

3 HP, S7540 

4 CTX, VL701B 

5 VIEWSONIC, E 70 

6 VIBRANT, VM 7VRDA 

7 VIEWSONIC, G90F+/B 

8 ELONEX, XV15 

9 SAMSUNG, SYNCMASTER 793DF 

10 IBM, E74 T07N7UK 

MARKET DATA 

HARDWARE CHARTS 

HP 

L1906 

2 LG, L194WT 

3 HP, L1706 

4 SAMSUNG, SYNCMASTER 720N 

5 SAMSUNG, SYNCMASTER 940N 

6 LG, L1717S-SN 

7 ACER, AL1716AS 

8 HP, L1740 

9 ACER, AL1717BM 

10 PHILIPS, 170S7FB 

MICE GAME CONTROLLERS CD WRITERS 

TRUST 

14178 MI-2500x 

2 KENSINGTON, VALUOPTICAL BLACK 

3 BELKIN, F8E836EA 

4 TARGUS, AMW1601 

5 KENSINGTON, VALUMOUSE SCROLL 

6 LOGITECH, PILOT USB PS/2 BLACK 

7 LOGITECH, V450 LASER CORDLESS 

8 LABTEC, OPTICAL MOUSE 800 

9 MICROSOFT, P58-00002 BASIC OPTICAL 

10 TRUST, 14301, MI4100 800 DPI USB 







1 1 1 

LOGITECH 

963291-0914 

2 LOGITECH, 963292-0914 

3 LOGITECH, WINGMAN EXTREME 

4 LOGITECH, 963290-0914 

5 LOGITECH, WINGMAN PRECISION 

6 LOGITECH, CORDLESS RUMBLEPAD 2 

7 LOGITECH, 963339-0914 

8 LOGITECH, 963325-0914 

9 SAITEK, 097993 ST290 PRO 

10 GEMBIRD, JPD-DUALFORCE USB 

LITEON 

LTR-48125 

2 LG, GCE 8527 B 

3 LITEON, LTR-52327S 

4 SONY, CRX230 

5 SONY, CRX230A 

6 LITEON, SOHR-5239V 

7 FREECOM, CLASSIC CD-RW 

8 PHILIPS, PCRW 5232K 

9 SONY, CRX230EB2 

10 HP, DE206A 

KEYBOARDS 

LOGITECH 

967561-0120 

www.pcretailmag.com PCRetail August 79 

1 

2 MICROSOFT, ZG6-00010 

3 MICROSOFT, BV3-00007 

4 MICROSOFT, B2L-00005 

5 TRUST, 14550 KB1120 

6 KENSINGTON, 1500109 

7 TRUST, 13972/13977 3011A 

8 LABTEC, 967680-0110 

9 FSC, BDL:CYYKUS0103GBBL 

10 LOGITECH, 967738-0120 

DVD WRITERS 

1 

LG 

GSA-E40N 

2 LITEON, LH-20A1P 

3 SONY, AWG 170A 

4 NEC, AD-5170A 

5 LG, GSA-H42L 

6 PIONEER, DVR-112D 

7 LITEON, DH-20A1P 

8 SAMSUNG, SH-S182D 

9 LITEON, LH-18A1P 

10 LG, GSA-H12L

MARKET DATA 

HARDWARE CHARTS 

INKJET PRINTERS LASER PRINTERS MFDS 

1 1 1 1 

LEXMARK 

Z 640 

2 HP, PHOTOSMART A430 

3 EPSON, STYLUS D78 

4 CANON, PIXMA IP4300 

5 HP, PHOTOSMART D5160 

6 HP, DESKJET D1360 

7 EPSON, STYLUS PHOTO R360 

8 HP, DESKJET D2360 

9 HP, PHOTOSMART A516 

10 EPSON, STYLUS PHOTO R265 

HP 

LASERJET 1018 

2 HP, COLOR LASERJET 2600N 

3 HP, LASERJET P2015 

4 HP, LASERJET 1020 

5 SAMSUNG, ML-2510 

6 HP, LASERJET 1022 

7 SAMSUNG, CLP-300 

8 BROTHER, HL 2030 

9 HP, LASERJET P2015N 

10 SAMSUNG, ML 2010 

HP 

PHOTOSMART 

2575 

2 HP, PHOTOSMART C3180 

3 HP, DESKJET F380 

4 HP, PHOTOSMART C4180 

5 LEXMARK, X 1270 

6 LEXMARK, X 5470 

7 EPSON, STYLUS DX6000 

8 LEXMARK, P4350 

9 BROTHER, DCP-115C 

10 EPSON, STYLUS DX4000 

TV CARDS WEBCAMS ROUTERS 

1 1 1 1 

HAUPPAUGE 

WINTV PVR 500 

MCE 

2 HAUPPAUGE, WIN TV NOVA-T 500 

3 HAUPPAUGE, WIN TV NOVA-T PCI 

4 HAUPPAUGE, WINTV-HVR-1100 

5 HAUPPAUGE, WIN TV EXPRESS 

6 HAUPPAUGE, WINTV-HVR-1300 

7 LEADTEK, DVT1000T 

8 HAUPPAUGE, WINTV NOVA-S-PLUS 

9 LEADTEK, WINFAST DV 2000 

10 LEADTEK, WINFAST TV2000 XP DELUXR 

LOGITECH 

961419 

2 LOGITECH, QUICKCAM MESSENGER 

3 CREATIVE, CAM VISTA IM 

4 MICROSOFT, LIFECAM VX-1000 

5 MICROSOFT, LIFECAM VX-3000 

6 LOGITECH, 961438 

7 LOGITECH, QUICKCAM CHAT 

8 TRUST, CP2100 

9 CREATIVE, CAM VIDEO IM PRO 

10 TRUST, WB-1400T 

NETGEAR 

DG834G 

2 BELKIN, F5D7230UK4 

3 NETGEAR, DG834PN 

4 BELKIN, F5D7632UK4 

5 LINKSYS, WRT54GS 

6 NETGEAR, WPN824 

7 NETGEAR, DG834GT 

8 D-LINK, DI-524 

9 LINKSYS, WAG54GS 

10 NETGEAR, DGB111G 








GRAPHICS CARDS 

PNY 

GEFORCE 

7600 GS 

2 XFX, GEFORCE 6200 

3 PNY, GEFORCE 7300 GS PCI-E 

4 HP, NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 440 

5 SAPPHIRE, RADEON X1650PRO 256MB 

6 BFG TECH, GEFORCE 8800 GTS 

7 MATROX, MILLENNIUM G550 

8 SAPPHIRE, RADEON 9550 

9 POINT-OF-VIEW, GEFORCE 7600 GT 

10 INNOVISION, GEFORCE FX5200 

PC SPEAKERS 

INTEMPO 

IDS-01 

2 LOGIC 3, IP107K 

3 LOGITECH, X-230 

4 LOGIC 3, MIP103K 

5 BOSE, SOUNDDOCK 

6 SONY ERICSSON, MPS-60 ORANGE 

7 LOGIC 3, IP106 

8 PHILIPS, SBA 220 

9 LOGITECH, MM50 

10 LABTEC, SPIN 85 


MARKET DATA 

SOFTWARE CHARTS 

PC GAMES BUDGET GAMES EDUCATIONAL 

1 1 1 1 

EIDOS 

TOMB RAIDER 

ANNIVERSARY 

2 C&C 3: TIBERIUM WARS EA 

3 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2007 SEGA 

4 WOW: THE BURNING CRUSADE VU GAMES 

5 THE SIMS 2: SEASONS EA 

6 THE SIMS 2 EA 

7 LOTR ONLINE: ANGMAR CODEMASTERS 

8 MEDIEVAL II: TOTAL WAR SEGA 

9 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL THQ 

10 THE SIMS 2: PETS EA 

EA 

THE SIMS 2: 

H&M STUFF 

2 WORLD OF WARCRAFT VU GAMES 

3 THE SIMS (ORIGINAL) EA 

4 THE SIMS 2: CELEBRATION STUFF EA 

5 ROME: TOTAL WAR GSP/AVANQUEST 

6 HOTEL GIANT SOLD OUT 

7 JURASSIC PARK: GENESIS GSP/AVANQUEST 

8 PRAETORIANS SOLD OUT 

9 ZOO TYCOON XPLOSIV 

10 PREY 2K GAMES 

FOCUS 

TEACHING YOU 

ELECTRIC GUITAR 

REFERENCE CREATIVE & UTILITIES SECURITY & OFFICE 

FOCUS 

DRIVING TEST ALL 

TESTS 2006/2007 

2 ALL IN ONE DRIVING TEST GSP/AVANQUEST 

3 OFFICIAL DSA THEORY KIT 06/07 TSO 

4 DRIVING TST SUCCESS HAZARD 06/07 FOCUS 

5 OFFICIAL DSA LEARN DRIVE 06/07 TSO 

6 DSA THEORY TST CAR DRIVER 06/07 TSO 

7 FAMILY TREE: GENEALOGY FOCUS 

8 AUTOROUTE 2007 MICROSOFT 

9 DRIVING TEST SUCCESS PRACTICAL FOCUS 

10 WHO DO YOU THINK V2 GSP/AVANQUEST 

EGAMES 

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP 

ELEMENTS 5.0 

2 NERO V7.0 PREMIUM RELOADED KOCH 

3 PHOTOSHOP EL 5/ PREMIERE EL 3 ADOBE 

4 3D HOME DESIGNER GSP/AVANQUEST 

5 ROXIO CREATOR 9 ROXIO 

6 YOUR 3D HOME DESIGNER GSP/AVANQUEST 

7 COREL PAINT SHOP PRO XI COREL 

8 PAINT SHOP PRO 8 DIGITAL WORKSHOP 

9 THE 3D GAMEMAKER LITE: SPECIAL ED FOCUS 

10 DVD SOLUTION 3 GOLD KOCH 

2 JUMP AHEAD 2000 YEAR 2 FOCUS 

3 JUMP AHEAD 2000 YEAR 1 FOCUS 

4 TEST AND IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY FOCUS 

5 TEACHING YOU: 31 LANGUAGES FOCUS 

6 TEACHING YOU GUITAR SKILLS FOCUS 

7 JA 2000 STARTING SCHOOL FOCUS 

8 TEACHING YOU ECDL FOCUS 

9 TEACHING YOU MS EXCEL XP & 2000 FOCUS 

10 TEACHING YOU: FRENCH (2ND ED.) FOCUS 

1 1 1 

1 

SYMANTEC 

NORTON 360 

ALL-IN -ONE SECURITY 

2 MS OFFICE HOME & STUDENT 07 MICROSOFT 

3 NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 07 SYMANTEC 

4 NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2007 SYMANTEC 

5 MCAFEE TOTAL PROTECTION 2007 MCAFEE 

6 N|S 2007 UPGRADE SYMANTEC 

7 MCAFEE INTERNET SECURITY SUITE 07 MCAFEE 

8 INTERNET SECURITY 6.0 KASPERSKY LAB 

9 INTERNET SECURITY 6.0 (3 USER) KASPERSKY 

10 INTERNET SECURITY SUITE 2007 UPG MCAFEE 

CHILDREN’S 


The charts credited to ELSPA/ChartTrack 

are the strict copyright of ELSPA. For 

more information, subscribe to the ELSPA 

weekly report. Contact ELSPA at 167 

Wardour Street, London W1F 8WL. 

Tel: 020 7534 0580. 

FOCUS 

THE SPONGEBOB 

SQUAREPANTS MOVIE 

2 SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS FOCUS 

3 S-DOO: GLOWING BUG GSP/AVANQUEST 

4 FINDING NEMO: UNDERWATER FOCUS 

5 SPONGEBOB DOUBLE PACK FOCUS 

6 THE HORSE MYSTERY GSP/AVANQUEST 

7 LEGOLAND FOCUS 

8 NODDY AND THE TOYLAND FAIR FOCUS 

9 LEGO RACERS 2 FOCUS 

10 DORA: WORLD ADVENTURE GSP/AVANQUEST 

BUDGET SEC/OFFICE 

GRABIT 

MYPC CHILD 

PROTECT 

2 FOCUS SELECT: DTP 2ND ED FOCUS 

3 CREATE YOUR OWN BUSINESS CARDS FOCUS 

4 WRITE YOUR OWN CV GSP/AVANQUEST 

5 FOCUS SELECT: WEB DESIGN 2ND ED. FOCUS 

6 BUSINESS CARDS GSP/AVANQUEST 

7 ONSPEED - INTERNET DIAL-UP KOCH 

8 CREATE YOUR OWN B CARDS 2ND ED. FOCUS 

9 FOCUS SELECT: WEB STUDIO FOCUS 

10 TEACHING YOU JOB INTERVIEW SKILLS FOCUS 


Speed Link from Meroncourt 

SL-8228 

Progressive 2.1 System 

The Progressive 2.1 System impresses with its state-of-the-art speaker 

technology and guarantees outstanding sound performance when used with 

your PC, games console or other audio devices. Individual sound adjustment 

of the treble, mid-range frequencies and bass using the stylish, credit card 

sized remote control. 

SL-6197-SBK 

Notebook Laser Mouse for Bluetooth 

Free yourself from cables or USB receivers - Bluetooth ® technology makes it 

possible. Notebooks with an integrated Bluetooth ® interface do not need a receiver. 

Naturally, this mouse works with the latest Bluetooth ® technologies from Windows ® , 

Bluesoleil and Macintosh ® . 

SL-6631 

Cougar Pro, Vibration Flightstick 

The perfect device, allowing you to master legendary aerial dog-fights and 

breathtaking gaming sequences perfectly. This joystick has numerous functions 

which meet the high demands required in flight simulations and action games. 

The robust finish provides durability and functional reliability. 

For a complete list of Speed Link products in stock, please 

visit our web site at http://trade.meroncourt.co.uk 

Exclusive UK & Irish distributor 

Meroncourt Europe Ltd • 610 Jubilee Road • Letchworth • Herts • SG6 1NE 

Tel: +44 (0)1462 680060 • Fax: +44 (0)1462 680070 • Email: v.ryan@meroncourt.com • Web Site: http://trade.meroncourt.co.uk

THE PLACE FOR BUSINESS 

MARKETPLACE A-Z 

A complete guide to this month’s 

Marketplace advertisers... 

DUPLICATOR SOFTWARE PAGE NO. 

CD Writer 0208 293 0777 102, 107 

DISTRIBUTORS/RESELLERS/MANUFACTURERS 

3A Distribution 0208 838 5511 106 

Abacom 01483 303455 86, 133 

Agency Sales 01623 473040 107 

Asrock Europe 0031 2434 54433 113 

Aspect systems 01202 548888 107 

Big Red Solutions 012796 36290 99 

Blue Solutions 0870 402 0000 91 

Cartex 01765 690 790 103 

Cartridge expert 01489 795777 100 

Centerprise 01256 378 222 87 

Computer Connections 01423 704 700 111 

Eye Systems 08452 608 908 85 

Expodata 08700770077 103 

FM Europe 0208 330 0650 104 

GEM 01279 822 822 85, 86 

Gemini 0208 960 6655 104 

GR Kabel 087 075 54050 93 

Interactive Ideas 0208 805 1000 90 

Interface Solutions 0121 780 6000 104 

JLT 0870 225 5558 88, 13 

Kaspersky Labs 0870 011 3461 97, 111 

Keyboard Company 0845 205 5588 86 

Logic 3 0208 903 6625 92 

Medea 0870 350 0330 113 

Micro-P 01282 776776 96 

M & M Electronics 01443 479526 107 

Netbit Distribution 0870 3500330 105 

Paper elements 01623 558093 107 

PSA Parts 0208 544 7289 109 

RD-UK 01634 297 500 94 

Realtime Distribution 01480 435 881 90, 109 

RET UK 012648 50892 101 

SDA Trading 01618191515 108 

SJ Software 0845 603 6965 98, 113 

Spire 0870 750 5100 111 

VIP Computers 08701 648 501 111 

Wallis Trading 0870 092 5547 86 

Wasp 0845 430 1971 95 

DATA RECOVERY 

ODR 01737 379 999 109 

PRODUCT BRANDING 

ScotGold Products 01330 820 500 108 

REPAIRS 

Perfect Play 0208 778 5164 100 

Commtech IT Solutions 0871 711 2172 102 

WHOLESALE, WARRANTY, BROADBAND & SERVICES 

Broadband First 0870 7870 387 92 

Data 1st 0870 428 7408 92 

Hungry Recycling 0208 393 1162 100 

TADL 08707 200 586 102 

To advertise on 

these pages 

please call 

Carly Bailey 

TELEPHONE 01992 535647 OR EMAIL CARLY.BAILEY@INTENTMEDIA.CO.UK 


MARKETPLACE 



Epson aiming for 

Perfect new line 

EPSON has unveiled the latest scanner 

in its Perfection range – aimed at the 

professional and enthusiast markets. 

The V200 Photo benefits 

from Epson’s Matrix CCD 

scanning technology, 

which boosts image 

quality. 

The charge couple 

device – normally found 

in video cameras and 

high-end SLR cameras – 

gives the device an 

optical resolution of 

4800dpi. It also comes 

with AutoPhoto 

Correction, which 

CHECKPOINT has released Zone 

Alarm Security Suite for Microsoft’s 

new Windows Vista operating system. 

Taking advantage of Vista’s new 

Windows Filtering System Firewall 

automatically adjusts the scanned 

image to ensure that the photo is 

straight even if scanned at an angle. 

The scanner is also equipped with 

the ability to create automatic PDFs, as 

well as energy saving features 

including a quick shutdown and 

automatic turn-off when not 

used for a period of time. 

www.espon.co.uk 

Zonealarm for Vista 

protection programming interface, it 

allows comprehensive multilayered 

protection for the first time on the 

new operating system. 

www.zonealarm.com 


with Sapphire ATI Radeon HD2600 and HD2400 series 

www.centerprise.co.uk 

Ultimate HD video & audio playback 

Supports Blu-Ray and HD-DVD 

Integrated HDMI 

True high-defi nition gaming 

Future proof 

www.sapphiretech.com 

Please call Sales on 01256 378222 

ATI, the ATI logo, Radeon, Crossfi re, and all combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices Inc



SONY’S latest notebook will leave road warriors drooling at its combination of 

features, battery life and featherweight construction. Sony takes its thin ‘n’ 

light notebooks very seriously, sporting a range which include some of the 

lightest models available anywhere in the world. As with most notebooks of 

this kind, compromises have to be made but you’ll have to look very hard to 

find any on the G11. 

In a marketplace that has been dominated by Lenovo’s X-series for years, 

Sony knew it had to pull some big punches in order to muscle out the 

heavyweight incumbent. From just about every angle the G11 weighs in very 

competitively. 

Styling heavily mimics the X-series with angular lines but this special 

edition model features a brown lid and a Filofax-esque carrying 

sleeve. Weighing in at just over 1.1Kg, you’ll be hard-pressed 

to notice it, even after carrying it around all day. 

The innards of the G11 are well specified. The 

Intel Core Solo processor only runs at 

1.3GHz but it’s more than capable of 

running a spam bloated email 

client, Internet browser and 

word processor all at 

the same time. 

Memory is 

also well 

catered for 

with 2GB 

RAM providing 

ample memory 

not to tax the 

100GB hard drive 

with swap space 

duties. 

However, it isn’t the 

processor and memory 

which really impresses, that’s 

left to the screen which is barely 

thicker than a coin. The anorexic 

dimensions are possible thanks to 

new LED backlighting technology, 

which not only offers thinner displays 

but increased brightness and lower power 

consumption. Even in extreme batterysaving 

mode, the contrast and brightness of 

the screen was very usable. 

The waif-like screen is so thin that it is possible 

to visibly bend it lengthways. As one MicroAnvika 

assistant explained, within a couple of hours of a G11 

going on their shelves someone had cracked the screen. 

Although the screen itself feels fairly sturdy, some care 

must be taken when opening and closing the lid. 

As these notebooks are typically purchased by people who 

spend their lives in airport departure lounges they have to blend 

portability and battery life. These two paradoxical features are often 

met by allowing users to plug in bigger batteries, which bulge out of the 

standard chassis. G11 users needn’t worry about their battery failing during all 

MARKETPLACE• RECOMMENDED 

Sony Vaio G11VN/TC 

High-End Laptop 

Distributor: TBA 

Price: £1700 

but the longest of hauls. In typical use you can expect around eight hours 

with that falling to seven when wi-fi is enabled. 

Unlike most notebooks of its ilk, the G11 features a built-in DVD writer. 

Handy not just for burning the odd DVD but watching a film during that flight 

if your company has booked you on a no-frills airline. 

The only downside comes in the shape of the one 

year warranty. Rivals typically offer three years and 

while that option exists, it costs a further £200. 

With the G11 retailing for around £1,700, expect 

to pay nearer £2,000 if you want the peace of 

mind that comes with an extended warranty. 

Price aside, the G11 offers an exceptional 

blend of features and portability. If you’re 

looking to replace your on-the-road 

companion then Sony’s G11 is definitely 

worth considering. 

www.pcretailmag.com PC Retail August 89

MARKETPLACE • RECOMMENDED 



SAMSUNG Q70 

Laptop 

C2000: 0870 060 3344 

Price: £898 

They don’t make budget 

notebooks like they used 

to. Just a year or two ago, 

you’d have to put up with a 

poorly designed lump of plastic 

if you couldn’t spend over a 

grand. Now, you can pick up a 

well-engineered machine such 

as this Samsung Q70. 

A combination of Intel’s 2GHz 

T7300 Core 2 

processor and 

2GB of RAM 

means there’s 

enough grunt 

here to keep the 

Q70 looking 

speedy for several 

years. It raced 

through our 

benchmarks, 

scoring 1.01 overall – 1% faster 

than our reference 3.2GHz 

Pentium D desktop PC. 

You’ll find a mini-FireWire port 

on the side with two USBs. The 

reason these ports aren’t more 

conveniently located at the 

rear of the machine is the 

battery. It sticks out 17mm from 

the main body of the chassis; 

Samsung could have used a 

battery that sits flush, but there 

wouldn’t have been much 

Foibles aside, 

you’re 

getting an 

astonishing 

package for 

the price 

room inside for battery cells. The 

2kg weight gives the Q70 fair 

claim to being a portable 

companion. At some point in 

the future you should also be 

able to buy an extended 

battery, which will boost the 

battery life by 50 per cent. 

People typing up long reports 

might not be quite so chuffed 

with Samsung’s 

choice of key 

positioning. One 

Shift button is 

tucked away at 

the far right of the 

keyboard, and we 

kept on hitting the 

“\” button instead. 

The keyboard is 

quite compact as 

well; this is one area where it 

loses out. 

We don’t dispute that the 

Samsung has some foibles, but 

you’re getting an astonishing 

package for the price: good 

styling, heaps of power and 

storage, and a vibrant, 

widescreen TFT. If the irritations 

we’ve highlighted won’t upset 

you, this is certainly a great buy 

– a deserved Recommended 

award winner. 


MARKETPLACE 



D-Link hits G spot 

NETWORK SPECIALIST D-Link has 

launched its latest wireless G access 

point, the DAP-1160 incorporating 

software and support for developers 

using Linux. 

As well as open-source support, 

the DAP-1160 can be configured to 

perform a number of tasks ranging 

from acting as an access point, 

through to being a repeater in order 

to cover deadspots. The device also 

has the capability to be an AP client 

for other access points and a 

workgroup bridge to connect two 

wireless networks together. 

The DAP-1160 comes with a 

wireless transfer 

speed of 54Mbps 

and is also WiFi 

IEEE 802.11g 

compliant 

ensuring 

SEAGATE has unveiled the 

second-generation of its EE25 

Series ruggedised hard drives. 

The 2.5-inch EE25.2 is designed 

to give maximum storage for 

those operating in environments 

where other non-ruggedised hard 

drive might not survive. 

Among the eventualities it has 

been ruggedised against are 

extremes in temperature, 

vibration, humidity, shock and 

altitude conditions. With up to 

80Gb of storage, the EE25 is 

aimed at use in ruggedised PCs, 

commercial aircraft, vehicles, 

marine vessels, commercial and 

industrial control systems and 

CCTV applications. 

www.seagate.com 

interoperability with other 802.11g 

client devices. 

It aims to ensure that wireless 

networks will not be abused, with 

support for advanced security features 

including 64/128-bit WEP encryption 

plus WPA/WPA2 security to prevent 

unauthorised access. Other features 

include the ability to filter MAC 

addresses, disable SSID broadcasts 

and a scalable broadcast area. 

www.dlink.com 

Hard as nails drive 

arrives from Seagate 


Excellence in distribution 

www.rd-uk.co.uk 

t. 01634 297 500 f. 01634 297 878 e. sales@rd-uk.co.uk 

New from BTC – The 9029URF keyboard for Windows Media centre Edition, now available 

from RD-UK – the UK’s largest authorised distributor of BTC keyboards & mice. 

Live TV: Switch to live TV if TV isn’t currently playing. If the TV is paused, skip 

to live programming. 

Guide: Go to the Electronic Programming Guide. 

DVD Menu: Display the DVD menu. 

Volume - : Adjust the volume 

Volume + : Adjust the volume 

Mute: Mute the sound without stopping playback. Press Mute again to turn 

the sound back on. 

Back: Go to the previous screen. 

More: Show information about the selected item. 

Record: Record the TV show to disk 

This product will carry out three main functions in a compact 

and sleek from factor – it’s a keyboard, a mouse as well as an 

MCE remote. 

The 9029URF has a very low profile and is very compact. It has 

16 hot keys that enable you to easily and conveniently control 

your TV & multimedia functions. The 9029URF with its built in 

5211/859 

Black standard office 

keyboard with M859 

3D optical mouse 

5145 

Full function keyboard 

in small footprint 

6100 

Mini keyboard 

with scissor 

action keys - USB 

Multimedia Keys 

Play: Play the selected song, album, play list, recorded TV show or video. 

Pause: Pause the currently playing media. Press again to resume. 

Stop: Stop the currently playing media. Press play to start the track again 

from the beginning. 

Rew: Rewind the currently playing media. 

Fwd: Speed up the currently playing media. 

Previous: For TV, go back 5 seconds. 

Next: For album or play list, play the previous song. For DVD, play the 

previous chapter. 

pointing device, mouse and remote control functions gives you 

the freedom to remotely control your Media Centre PC. You get 

the freedom to sit anywhere in your living room and interact 

with your MCE PC – no wires – the 9029URF 2.4ghz wireless 

keyboard gives you the freedom to be up to 10m away from 

your MCE PC and still interact with it. 

6300 

As 6100 but 

full size with 

numeric keypad 

Unit G2 Knights Park Industrial Estate Knight Road Strood Rochester Kent ME2 2LS 

All brand names, trademarks and logos acknowledged 

8193URFII 

Wireless keyboard/mouse set



VIAMICHELIN X-960 

SatNav Device 

Distributor: TBA 

Price: £145 

The X-960 is the lightest 

satnav on test at only 136g. 

It has a bright 3.5in 

touchscreen TFT with a nonreflective 

coating. UK and 

Ireland maps are bundled, and 

a European version is available 

for around £30 more. 

Menus are intuitive and the 

main menu has three simple 

buttons: Navigate, Plan Your 

Journey and My ViaMichelin. 

Plan Your Journey allows you to 

plan a route, display a map 

and search for a POI without a 

GPS fix. 

You can plan multidestination 

routes, too. The 

guidance display 

can be set to a 

full-screen 3D or 

2D view, or a 

schematic of the 

next turn, 

complete with 

no-entry signs 

showing illegal 

turns. 

But rather than 

add unnecessary frills like a 

music player, ViaMichelin 

includes genuinely useful extras 

such as POI categories for 

hotels and restaurants in the 

Michelin Guide. Tourist 

information from the Green 

Guide is also included, with 

major event locations, too. You 

ViaMichelin 

includes 

genuinely 

useful extras 

such as POI 

categories for 

hotels 

get permanent free updates of 

fixed safety cameras and map 

updates for three months, while 

a two-year map subscription 

with at least four updates costs 

£70. Plus, using the My 

ViaMichelin area on the firm’s 

website allows you to 

synchronise favourite routes, 

addresses and POIs. 

Entering an address is easy as 

there’s a QWERTY layout with 

numbers, and keys are greyed 

out if there are no matching 

city names or postcodes. The 

300MHz CPU might not be the 

fastest, but the X-960 is 

responsive, even 

on battery power. 

Although no 

mains adapter is 

bundled, you can 

charge the unit 

via USB or the car 

charger. The 

windscreen 

mount is solid, but 

you have to twist 

an awkwardly 

placed slippery 

dome to create suction. 

Another gripe is the inability to 

avoid specific roads in the 

planned route, or calculate a 

route around a roadblock or 

traffic jam. 

If you don’t need live traffic 

updates, it’s one to add to your 

shortlist. 

MARKETPLACE • RECOMMENDED 

www.ingrammicro.co.uk 

Tel: 01908 260160 

www.waspbarcode.co.uk | 0845.430.1971 

NEW. RUGGED. ERGONOMIC. BLUETOOTH. 

The Wasp WDT3200 is a feature rich portable data terminal 

designed to handle even the most demanding mobile data collection needs. 

Featuring a crisp, QVGA screen and running the latest Windows CE 5.0 

operating system, the WDT3200 portable data terminal can handle today’s 

inventory applications and is ready for future programming needs. 

FEATURES: 

• Ergonomic design 

• Vivid, backlit screen 

• Windows CE 5.0 operating system 

• Integrated laser scanner 

• Bluetooth 

:: WDT3200 Portable Data Terminal :: WDT3200 Portable Data Terminal 

(without pistol grip) (with pistol grip) 

Wasp Part Number: 633808503253 Wasp Part Number: 633808503192 

List Price: £749 List Price: £799 

MOBILEINVENTORY COMBOS 

WITH WDT3200 

These complete solutions include 

MobileInventory stock tracking 

software with the new WDT3200 

portable data terminal (including 

ergonomic pistol grip) and a WPL305 desktop barcode printer. It's an all 

inclusive and highly integrated inventory tracking solution. The WLP305 

barcode printer adds the capability to print inventory labels/shipping labels 

with unique text, company logos and flexibility to change label sizes. 

:: MobileInventory Std with :: MobileInventory Std with WDT3200, 

WDT3200 & Pistol Grip Pistol Grip & WPL305 Barcode Printer 


List Price: £949 List Price: £1,249 

:: MobileInventory Network with :: MobileInventory Network with WDT3200, 

WDT3200 & Pistol Grip Pistol Grip & WPL305 Barcode Printer 


List Price: £1,349 List Price: £1,649 

Wasp products available through: 

www.insbarcode.co.uk 

Tel: 020 8564 9222 

www.xma.co.uk 

Tel: 0845 840 8400 


MARKETPLACE 

Asus rolls 

out new slim 

line GPS PDA 

TO ANSWER the needs of 

consumers who require a versatile 

and functional PDA, ASUS has 

launched the A696 GPS PDA. 

The ASUS A696 is not only 

ultra-slim at only 1.57cm, it 

incorporates full GPS functionality 

without the protruding antenna, 

is encased in stainless steel 

instead of plastic and comes with 

an anti-glare touch screen. 

The Global Positioning System 

(GPS) puts an end to fumbling 

with maps by harnessing satellite 

technology to pinpoint precise 

location and to provide useful 

journey information. No mere 

gimmick, the A696 has a great 

variety of everyday applications 

like trip planning and navigating 

venues, taking users anywhere, 

for both fun and work. 

Utilising Destinator 

Technologies’ routing engine and 

feature rich navigation content, 

the A696 also has a QuickNav 

button making it quicker and 

easier to travel directly to a 

predetermined address or POI 

(Point of Interest). Other features 

include a random search facility 

that directs you to points of 

interest in your surrounding 

location, a simple and clear user 

interface and an innovative trip 

planning feature with 

intermediate stops and route 

optimisation function. 

In addition, the A696’s GPS 

module uses the latest energyefficient 

SiRF Star III chipset, 

enabling accurate navigation over 

extended periods. 

It also comes with wireless 

capability Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), while 

Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data 

Rate speeds up data exchange with 

a range of digital peripherals by up 

to two to three times over 

conventional Bluetooth. 

With ASUS’ user-friendly 

application ‘Remote Presenter’, it 

can also be easily used to link and 

control presentations on a 

computer via Bluetooth. All data 

is stored in Flash memory, so 

precious information remains 

stored even if all battery power in 

the handheld has drained away. 

Running on Microsoft 

Windows Mobile 5.0, the A696 is 

also a true multimedia handheld 

with front-mounted speakers that 

play video and audio formats, plus 

the huge library of games for the 

Pocket PC platform. 

www.pcretailmag.com

® ®



Buffalo storms in 

with new routers 

BUFFALO TECHNOLOGY has added 

two new routers to its range of wireless 

solutions. The AirStation Nfiniti Wireless- 

N ADSL2+ brings all the benefits of new 

draft-N wireless networking, while the 

AirStation Wireless-G High-speed 

ADSL2+ wireless modem router 

incorporates enhanced wireless-G, 

meaning that transfer speeds can reach 

125Mbps. 

The Nfiniti wireless modem router is 

based upon the upcoming 802.11n 

standard and offers a streaming speed of 

270Mbps compared to the 54Mbps 

offered by 802.11g. It also offers a 

maximum unimpeded range of 70 

metres compared to 35 metres for 

802.11g. 

www.buffalo-technology.com 

As a single vendor solution both hardware and software are merged into 

bigred's Solution Warranty. The opportunity for the IT solution provider as a 

bigred partner is to use bigred products and services as value add installing, 

maintaining and supporting a finished solution with the bigredbox® as a core 

product. Combine this with a set of services matching most common server 

solutions in functionality but surpassing in reliability, the bigredbox® provides 

a simple solution to any complex network and at a cost end users can afford. 

For more information about the bigredbox® and becoming a bigred partner 

contact us or send an email to partners@bigredsolutions.com 

www.bigredsolutions.com 

MARKETPLACE 

Bigred Solutions Ltd 

The Lodge, Stadium Way, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5FP 

Tel: +44 (0) 1279 636290 Fax: +44 (0) 1279 636291

sector - CCS (Leeds)

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